


Keith's Pack

by whitehorsetiger



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Lance (Voltron), Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Beta Hunk (Voltron), Beta Pidge | Katie Holt, Bonding, Childbirth, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Keith (Voltron), Platonic Relationships, Romantic Relationship, Smut, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-04-03 22:18:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 48,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14006019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitehorsetiger/pseuds/whitehorsetiger
Summary: “That’s the last one,” Shiro said, placing the last box on the ground in Keith’s new room.Keith ignored him, elbow-deep in one of the other boxes.“Keith,” Shiro sighed.“What Shiro?” Keith snapped, glaring at him.He knew he was being unfair, that Shiro was just trying to help, but the omega found he just didn’t care. He was also hating the way Shiro was looking at him, eyes full of pity.“I know this is not ideal…” Shiro started.“Not ideal?” Keith snapped, “Just, don’t Shiro, don’t.”Shiro let out a long breath, “Alright, I’ll leave you to unpack then.”Keith is having the worst time of his life, a new law just passed against omegas means he lost his job and his flat, being forced to move back in with his older brother. Luck may be on his side though, as this opens up another opportunity to him. This chance may offer him more than just a job opportunity.





	1. Friends I

“That’s the last one,” Shiro said, placing the last box on the ground in Keith’s new room.  
Keith ignored him, elbow-deep in one of the other boxes.   
“Keith,” Shiro sighed.  
“What Shiro?” Keith snapped, glaring at him.  
He knew he was being unfair, that Shiro was just trying to help, but the omega found he just didn’t care. He was also hating the way Shiro was looking at him, eyes full of pity.  
“I know this is not ideal…” Shiro started.  
“Not ideal?” Keith snapped, “Just, don’t Shiro, don’t.”  
Shiro let out a long breath, “Alright, I’ll leave you to unpack then.”  
Clenching his fists and dropping his head, Keith listened as Shiro left the room, groaning slightly at himself. It really wasn’t Shiro’s fault, the only thing he’d done is offer Keith a place to live. He hadn’t intended to move back in with his big brother, although he hadn’t exactly intended to lose his job either. Apparently, police officer was now classed as an unsuitable job for an omega, even on suppressants. Unbonded as he was, it was almost impossible to find work anywhere. Which was why he was forced to move in with his brother.

It didn’t take him long to unpack all his stuff, Keith didn’t really keep many personal items. Stacking the cardboard boxes in a corner, Keith looked around his new room. There wasn’t a great deal too it, Shiro didn’t exactly have the most money in the world, which honestly made Keith feel even more guilty. Pushing open the door, Keith wandered into the living room. Shiro was splayed out on the sofa, large greasy pizza and a crap-ton of garlic bread on the coffee table along with two beers. Shiro smiled weakly at him.  
“Piece offering?”   
“’m not mad at you,” Keith grumbled, dropping onto the sofa.  
“A pity party then?”   
“That’s more like it.”

As Keith took a bite from the pizza, he knew there would be a large amount of regret in about an hour. He didn’t really care. Shiro had put on a really bad soap, Keith had no idea what was going on and had no real intention of finding out. A scent-covering candle was burning on the side board, covering Keith’s thick unhappy scent as he had forgone his scent blockers that morning. Under normal circumstances, an omega’s pack would comfort the distressed member, using their own scents to soften and mellow the distressed scent. Keith’s entire pack consisted of Shiro, the Alpha’s scent was not strong enough to completely mellow Keith’s so they’d have to settle for the scent-blocking candle. Shiro looped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close and ruffling his hair so it fell in his eyes.  
“You’ll find something,” Shiro said, “Don’t worry, you’ve got this.”  
Keith grumbled lightly, pushing away and punching Shiro on the shoulder.  
“Sure,” he said, crossing his arms and looking away fighting back a distressed wine.

Drinking away his problems was definitely not the best solution, in fact it wasn’t even a solution. He could feel Shiro’s judgemental eyes on him with each new beer he opened, he just left Keith too it though. He needed this, just a night where he could completely forget his problems, under different circumstances he’d go out to find himself a one-night stand. Junk food, shitty movies, drinking and spending time with his brother was just as good.

****

The next morning Keith found himself regretting all his life choices, and having Shiro as a brother.  
“Morning!” the alpha said brightly, flinging open the curtains.  
Keith groaned burying his face in the pillow, pain lacing through his head. Fuck hangovers.  
“Come on, breakfast,” Shiro continued.  
Keith moaned again, that bastard was enjoying this. Grabbing the pillow, he threw it at where he assumed Shiro’s stupid face was. Shiro’s scent was nothing but amused, suddenly Keith was without covers too.  
“No!” he grumbled, burying his face in his arms.  
“Come on, food will make you feel better,” Shiro said.  
“Is the kitchen ok?” Keith asked, rolling over to blink gummy eyes at Shiro.  
“The kitchen is fine,” Shiro huffed, “I went out and bought something.”  
Keith yawned, rolling out of bed.  
“Alright, I’m good for edible food.”  
“Hey!”

The pastries Shiro had bought were really tasty, luckily not too sickly sweet. Drinking about his own weight in water and coffee, Keith was feeling slightly more alive.  
“If you ever bring up anything I said last night I swear, I will gut you,” he said absently.  
“So you actually remember?”   
“No, and I don’t want to.”  
Shiro snorted, “If you say so.”  
Keith shot him a suspicious look, narrowing his eyes.  
“Are you fucking with me?”  
“I don’t know, am I?”  
“No, no, I don’t want to know,” Keith said resolutely, shaking his head.  
“If you’re sure,” Shiro shrugged, fake-innocence painted on his face.  
Keith glowered, “I hate you.”

The apartment was still a bit of a tip, a lot of Keith’s boxes were scattered around along with the pizza from last night. When Shiro left for work, Keith set about clearing everything up. He had a lot of stuff from his old place and not a great deal of room to put it all in. He made do. It kept his mind occupied and his hands busy, it also meant he could wonder how the hell Shiro survived all this time with no cooking skills and nothing in the fridge. Keith was well aware of the fact he wasn’t the best cook, but Shiro could burn cereal. Had once, how he managed that no one had been able to work out.

 It was around midday when his phone chimed, he popped up from his place buried in boxes and scanned around the room. Damn, where had he left that thing. Picking his way carefully through the chaos he finally managed to spot the device on the sofa.

 **Pidge:** If you’ve stopped crying over your unfortunate life, fancy movie night?  
**Keith:** Your comforting words make me feel so much better  
**Pidge:** You’re an ass, go a head and wallow in your tears alone for all I care  
**Pidge:** I was being nice  
**Pidge:** Ass  
**Keith:** Feeling the love, will popcorn and food appease you  
**Pidge:** Is Shiro cooking?  
**Keith:** How stupid do you think I am?   
**Pidge:** Your offer has pleased me, see you at three

 

****

“Having any luck with the job hunt?” Pidge asked the second Keith opened the door.  
“What do you think,” Keith grumbled, standing back to let her in.  
She marched in past him.  
“It’s going amazing and you’ve found one?” the beta said, flopping down on the sofa.  
Keith glared at her, raising an eyebrow. Pidge snorted, pulling out six DVDs out of her backpack. Keith wandered into the kitchen to grab the popcorn.  
“You could find yourself a rich alpha, become a concubine,” Pidge said idly.  
Keith threw the bag of popcorn at her, it bounced off her head from where she was fiddling with the DVD player.  
“Is that a no?”

Shiro wandered in about two hours later, took one look at the two of them, then at the corny 80s horror movie playing.  
“Are you two planning on eating anything but junk food tonight?” he asked.  
“If you’re cooking? No. If Keith is cooking? Still no,” Pidge said idly.  
Shiro sighed, looking the two of them over. Both their faces stuffed with popcorn, looking as innocent as they could. He sighed, rubbing the scar on the bridge of his nose.  
“Why do I bother? I’ll order something.”  
“You not going to ask what we want?” Pidge gasped, hand over her chest in fake shock.  
“You’re mooching off me, at the very least I get to pick,” Shiro shook his head before vanishing into the kitchen.

“How’s Matt doing? Feet off the coffee table,” Shiro said, wandering back in a few minutes later.  
Pidge grumbled as she put her feet on the floor. Keith groaned as Shiro grabbed his ankles and tossed his feet onto the floor to sit down.  
“Good,” Pidge said idly, “Well as good as a human disaster can be, he’s currently suffering from horrible sunburn, but he managed not to get chased out of the last town he visited. So that’s a plus I guess.”  
Shiro laughed, “Not sure what else I expected.”  
“Look,” Pidge said, holding out her phone for Shiro to see.  
Keith lent forward too, laughing at the picture of Matt will horrible-looking sunburn.  
“Wow,” Shiro said, “Did he not pack sun cream?”  
Pidge snorted, “Yes, but this is Matt, he has to have some form of issue every week.”  
“No, there was that one week a month ago,” Keith said, holding up a finger.  
“Oh yeah,” Pidge nodded, “He got an award right?”  
“Human disaster success week,” Keith nodded.  
“That’s the one!” Pidge laughed.

They continued to watch the horror movies, Pidge and Keith arguing over how stupid the protagonists were, Shiro rolling his eyes at the antics. With a sigh, he lent over and tried to take some popcorn out of the bag Keith was holding. Automatically, Keith lent away, holding the bag right out of Shiro’s reach. He groaned slightly, grabbing Keith’s sleeve to try and pull his arm back. Keith glared, using his foot to try and push Shiro’s shoulder away. At this point he was almost laid on top of Pidge, who was trying to wriggle out from under his back.  
“Fatass…crushing…me,” she groaned, jabbing him with an elbow.  
“Give me the popcorn!” Shiro said, using his knees to push himself up the sofa.  
“No!” Keith grumbled back, kicking out with his leg.  
Pidge finally wriggled out from under his back, dropping onto the floor with a ‘oof’ of breath. This caused Keith to land flat on his back, arm jolting and causing the popcorn to spill onto the floor.  
“Well, now no one gets popcorn,” Pidge grumbled, “Well done Keith.”  
“Shiro’s fault.”

****

By the time nine o’clock rolled around, the three of them were splayed on the sofa, completely stuffed. The movie ended and Pidge groaned, sitting up.  
“I should probably get going,” she yawned, stretching up.  
“You could spend the night?” Shiro asked.  
“Nah, I have work tomorrow,” she replied, “Important things, can’t be late.”  
Keith and Shiro stood up with her, Shiro started clearing up while Keith helped Pidge gather up all her stuff. Before showing her to the door while she pulled her coat on.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you, I have something for you,” Pidge said, searching through her coat pockets.  
Keith lent against the door, watching as she scrabbled around. Making a sound of victory, she pulled out a strip of paper.  
“So you know how you’re looking for a job?” she said.  
Keith raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.  
“Ok, so my boss overheard me talking about the fact you lost your job.”  
“Gee, thanks.”  
“Shut up, I’m helping. Anyway, she’s been thinking of recruiting you and Shiro for a while now and wanted me to give you a number to contact if you fancied a job with us,” Pidge explained very quickly.  
Keith looked down at the crumpled piece of paper Pidge had shoved in his hands.  
“Pidge, I don’t even know what you do,” he said.  
“Probably not the same things you’d be doing, anyway, got to go,” she said, throwing her backpack over one shoulder, “I have a work thing, see you later.”  
“What kind of work? Pidge!” Keith yelled after her, but she had already vanished around the corner.

****

It was probably really stupid, he had no idea what this job even entailed. It probably wouldn’t hurt to talk to her though, probably. Shiro had tagged along, apparently he fancied a change in career. Keith had a feeling he just wanted to keep an eye on him.  
“So all you know is that she’s called Allura and wanted to meet us here?”  
“For the 50th time, yes,” Keith grumbled, leaning back to look out of the café window.  
“And you accepted, just like that?” Shiro frowned.  
“Again, yes, she’s Pidge’s boss, can’t be too bad,” Keith muttered.

The door to the café swung open and everyone’s eyes were immediately drawn to the woman who walked in. Her scent screamed ‘Alpha’, she was incredibly tall and extremely beautiful. She was also vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.  
“Hey Keith, Shiro,” Pidge called from her side.  
“So that’s Allura,” Shiro said softly.  
Keith could only nod, eyes wide. Allura strolled up to the counter, Pidge at her heels. She turned to the rest of the café, eyes hard. Everyone immediately went back to what they were doing before, heads lowered.  
“Wow,” Shiro said.  
Keith look at him, raising an eyebrow.

The two of them wandered over, Pidge collapsing beside Keith with about five muffins, Allura slid much more elegantly into her seat beside Shiro.  
“I didn’t eat breakfast this morning!” Pidge protested as Shiro shot her a Look.  
“That is a lot though,” Allura said.  
Pidge grumbled lightly, picking up each muffin and licking them. Allura shot her an exasperated look before returning her eyes to Shiro and Keith.  
“Now then,” she said, “Shiro and Keith right? I am Allura.”  
“Nice to meet you,” Keith said, when it looked like Shiro was no longer functioning.  
“So you’re interested in a job?” Allura said, crossing one leg over the other.  
“Yes,” Keith said.  
“Although we would like to know what the job involves,” Shiro said suddenly.  
Keith almost rolled his eyes, of course Shiro would snap out of his stupor at that moment.  
“Of course,” Allura said, taking a sip from her cup, “I wouldn’t expect you to just take a job you have no idea about.”  
She reorganised herself slightly in her seat.  
“Well, it’s pretty simple really. We, help people who can’t help themselves. Your background in the police make you two perfect candidates.”  
That, didn’t really clear anything up. But Keith was curious, and Pidge was smiling that really annoying smile when she knew something he didn’t.  
“I’m not asking you to make a decision now,” Allura said, “I simply wanted to meet and talk to the two of you.”

They talked for a little while, mostly about their work in the police. Allura remained pretty tight-lipped about the job, which if Keith was honest was only intriguing him more. Eventually she thanked them and stood up, sliding her coat back on.  
“Would you like a lift back Pidge?” she asked.  
“Nah, I’m meeting Hunk in a bit,” Pidge replied.  
“Alright then,” Allura smiled, she turned to Keith and Shiro, “It was nice to meet you. I hope you will consider my offer.”  
“Thank you,” Shiro said, smiling lightly.  
Keith nodded.   
“Here,” Pidge said, tossing a glossy magazine at Keith’s head, “Present for you.”  
She strolled out, tossing her bag over one shoulder. Keith frowned as he looked down at the magazine, it was one of those really trashy celebrity magazines, ones Keith avoided like the plague. He unrolled it and stared at the front cover.  
“Oh my god,” he hissed softly, “I knew she looked familiar.”  
Shiro pulled the magazine out of his hand.  
“Well, this just got interesting.”  
There, huge and bright on the cover, was Allura. Emblazoned with the headline.  
ALLURA ALTEA’S SECRET BOYFRIEND?  
Allura Altea, young CEO of Altea enterprises. One of the richest most influential alphas, the alphas that meant Keith no longer had a job. So why, why did she just offer him one.  
“You’re going to take the job aren’t you?” Shiro asked.  
“Obviously,” Keith said.


	2. Friends II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The place was huge, people dodging around left and right busy doing whatever they were doing. She showed them around the important parts of the building. The room they had entered was the main floor, they would be assigned desks there soon. The armoury, full to the brim with any and every weapon you could possibly want. The infirmary, where they met Allura’s uncle, an eccentric man called Coran. She then showed them the training room, crossing her arms she hummed lightly.  
> “Ah,” she sighed softly, before frowning deeply, “We were supposed to meet some people here, but.”  
> Shaking her head she let them out of the room and down the corridor. People yelling at each other sounded from one of the rooms, a muscle in Allura’s jaw jumped. She glowered, strides lengthening in irritation. She turned on her heel, slamming a door open to the sound of girly screaming.
> 
> Keith and Shiro take a job at Voltron, meeting some new friends along the way.

From the outside, the building was not all that impressive. As it was so secretive, Keith wasn’t surprised. Allura met them in the foyer, a couple of people sat at a couple of desks.  
“Plaxum, could you let us down please?” Allura asked, walking to the elevator in the back.  
The woman nodded, pressing something concealed under her desk. The door slid open and the three of them stepped inside. Keith slipped closer to Shiro.  
“Can you get anything on this place?” he asked.  
Shiro shook his head.  
“There are a few scent dampeners around and virtually everyone has scent blockers, if you were wondering why you can’t smell anything,” Allura said simply, answering the unasked question.  
Both Keith and Shiro tensed at that. It wasn’t unusual for scent dampeners and scent blockers to be utilised, however normally there was one or two people who either forgot to use them, or just didn’t. Normally Alphas.

The doors pinged and opened, Keith’s eyes widened as Shiro’s jaw dropped. A large room, filled with desks, computers and a lot of people. They were all weaving around each other, stacks of papers in their arms. Allura turned and smiled at them, opening her arms.  
“Welcome to Voltron.”

The place was huge, people dodging around left and right busy doing whatever they were doing. She showed them around the important parts of the building. The room they had entered was the main floor, they would be assigned desks there soon. The armoury, full to the brim with any and every weapon you could possibly want. The infirmary, where they met Allura’s uncle, an eccentric man called Coran. She then showed them the training room, crossing her arms she hummed lightly.  
“Ah,” she sighed softly, before frowning deeply, “We were supposed to meet some people here, but.”  
Shaking her head she let them out of the room and down the corridor. People yelling at each other sounded from one of the rooms, a muscle in Allura’s jaw jumped. She glowered, strides lengthening in irritation. She turned on her heel, slamming a door open to the sound of girly screaming.

Keith and Shiro approached cautiously, Allura’s scent wasn’t exactly welcoming. Around half way between where they were and the door, Keith was struck by another scent. A scent Keith wanted to run towards, bury himself in and never leave. The scent of family, pack, home.  
“I told you what would happen today, at this time, and what I expected of you,” Allura said, arms crossed.  
“We lost track of time,” a voice said.  
“It was Pidge’s fault,” a second voice said.  
“Hey!” a voice that was unmistakably Pidge’s added.  
“You were in charge of keeping an eye on the clock!” the second voice argued.  
“You’re the one who roped me into playing!”  
“You could’ve said no!”  
“Excuse me, chicken noises!”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”  
“Really? Really?”  
“Just,” Allura sighed, “Just, come on.”  
Three people stepped out of the room, two guys and Pidge, who was trapped in a headlock.  
“Hey Keith! Shiro!” Pidge said brightly, waving and whacking the arm of the person who had her in a headlock.

“Keith, Shiro, this is,” Allura sighed, “Our best team, Lance, Hunk and you know Pidge.”  
She gestured to each in turn and, wow. Lance was, really pretty. Hunk and Lance wandered over to shake their hands. Hunk was smiling brightly, beta scent soft, light and extremely relaxing. Next, Keith was met with beautiful blue eyes and a brilliant smile and he was gone, until he caught a whiff of Lance’s scent. He was unmistakably an alpha, Keith instinctively flinched away.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Lance said, still smiling brightly.  
“Lance? Lance McClain?” Shiro asked.  
Lance laughed, “Yep, that’s me!”  
Keith backed off a little, arms crossing over his chest. Unlike the Altea family, the McClains were not afraid of shying away from media attention. It probably helped that there were so may of them. They were renowned for having the biggest omega harems. Allura was thoroughly chewing the three of them out, but her scent indicated that she was not too annoyed with them.  
“Princess,” Lance said suddenly, when she paused for breath, “We’re sorry ok, we just lost track of time.”  
Allura huffed out an irritated breath, shaking her head.  
“You know how important this is,” she sighed.  
“We know, and we really are sorry,” Pidge said.  
Allura stared them down.  
“Alright, but you have to do an extra hour tomorrow.”  
Lance and Pidge looked like they were going to argue, but Hunk slapped his hands over their mouths.  
“Alright princess, we will.”  
“Ok,” Allura said, “Off to the training room with you then.”  
“See you later princess!” Lance called as the three of them dodged down the corridor.  
Allura sighed, smiling fondly after them.  
“Sorry about that, on with the tour?”

****

As it turned out, Allura wanted the two of them to join her elite team. She had done excessive research on the two of them, read all about their cases and work. So now they were training alongside Hunk, Lance and Pidge. Although they were still on probation, it was really amazing what they were doing. Training was brutal, Keith was pretty fit and confident in his own abilities. Every training session though left him completely drained.

It wasn’t only the physical training, they also had to go over case files, and work on their teamwork and trust. It was hard, Keith had difficulty connecting to people. Trust was a whole another matter. It was difficult, and often left him more drained than the actual physical training.

Lance was a puzzle Keith could not work out. He was an alpha, his scent meant there was no doubt about it. But he was so slender and gangly, and his scent shockingly unobtrusive. For the arrogant youngest son of an incredibly rich family, he was shockingly nice to everyone. Except, apparently, Keith.

“Come on mullet, keep your eyes open,” Lance shouted from the other side of the training room.  
Keith felt his eyebrow twitch, couldn’t he just shut up for one stupid exercise. The two of them were supposed to be making their way to the centre of the room, then working together to reach the other end. A couple of other people were blocking their path or shooting at the two of them. They were all in training suits, which would record the hits from the lasers of the guns or the knives. It should’ve been relatively easy, but, as everything with them, it was incredibly difficult.

Keith managed to ignore the challenging jabs Lance shouted at him, so they reached the middle pretty easily. That’s when everything went wrong, in a way that only the two of them could. They bickered, challenged each other and finally fell over one and other and in the end, they failed. Allura thoroughly chewed the two of them out, sending them off to the showers heads bowed.

Keith slammed his locker closed, glaring over at Lance across the room.  
“What is your problem with me?” he grumbled, whipping around and crossing his arms.  
Lance spun around, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith had made a terrible mistake, Lance was still incredibly pretty and without his scent blockers his scent was amazing.  
“My problem?” Lance asked, frowning.  
“Yes, your problem. You’re a complete ass to me and refuse to train seriously with me, is it because I’m an omega? Can the big bad alpha not deal with losing in hand-to-hand with an omega?” Keith snapped, well aware of the fact he was not thinking before speaking.  
Lance turned away, reaching into his locker. His scent was getting heavier, thick with anger. Keith almost flinched away, body screaming danger, instead of obeying his instincts he stood his ground.  
Lance turned back, “You know what, you’re a jerk Keith.”  
He didn’t sound angry, just defeated. Pulling his shirt on, the alpha strode out of the room, leaving a shocked Keith behind.

****

“You’re an idiot,” Pidge said.  
“Pidge,” Shiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
The three of them were crowded around Keith and Shiro’s back-to-back desks, having just listened to Keith’s retelling of his talk with Lance.  
“Tell me I’m wrong,” Pidge said, gesturing idly.  
Shiro groaned, “She’s not wrong.”  
Keith glared at the two of them.  
“What the hell?”  
“Look,” Shiro said, leaning over, “When asking someone why they don’t like you, don’t immediately jump down their throat and accuse them of things. It will never go down well.”  
Pidge had her face buried in her hands, groaning loudly. Until she started chuckling.  
“I can’t believe you accused Lance of looking down on you for being an omega,” she laughed, “Lance!”  
Keith huffed, glaring at her.  
“Did you forget me, Lance and Hunk are part of a pack or what?” she snorted, “You’re an idiot.”  
“Then explain to me, why does he hate me?” Keith snapped, crossing his arms.  
“Lance doesn’t hate you,” Shiro placated softly.  
“I mean, he finds you kind of annoying, but he doesn’t hate you,” Pidge shrugged.  
“Well I find him kind of annoying,” Keith grumbled, “But still, what did I do?”  
“Lance can probably answer that better than we can,” Shiro said.  
Keith immediately stood up, until Pidge put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Not right now,” she said, “Bad idea.”  
Keith dropped back into his seat, “Fine.”

Apparently, Lance was in the shooting range, so Keith cautiously headed there. Once the sound of shooting stopped, Keith opened the door. Soft voices sounded from somewhere down the way, Keith recognised both Hunk and Lance’s voices and scents.  
“Buddy, you can’t just block him out you know,” Hunk said softly.  
Keith flinched, they were probably talking about him.  
“I know, I know, we’re supposed to be a team whatever,” Lance grumbled back.  
Yeah, they were definitely talking about him.   
“Can’t I just be angry for a little while?”  
“Sure you can, but just remember you can’t be angry at him forever,” Hunk sighed, “What if he apologized?”  
Lance snorted, “Ok, because that’s going to happen.”  
Keith felt anger and indignance, he was tempted to turn back. Then he realised that would prove Lance right, which would be worse. He marched right up to where the two of them were practicing, turning around the divider.  
  
All of the bravado left him in one fell swoop as he looked at the two of them, damn Lance and his sexy back. No. What. Not sexy. Don’t get distracted. Here for a reason Keith. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath.  
“Hey,” Keith said awkwardly.  
Lance looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Hunk glanced between the two of them, before clapping Lance on the back.  
“I’ll see you later dude,” he said.  
“Yeah, see you,” Lance replied, turning back to his target.  
Hunk slipped out past Keith, shooting him a significant look before leaving.  
“Impressive shooting,” Keith said, gesturing to the target.  
It was an undeniable fact that Lance was an amazing shot, there was a reason he was a sniper in the most elite team in Voltron.  
“Of course,” Lance scoffed, “Don’t ever doubt the sharpshooter.”  
Keith let out a long breath, if Lance was still bragging Keith couldn’t have messed up too bad.

  
“Can I get on with practicing? Or are you here for a reason?” Lance asked, grabbing the target to replace it.  
“I,” Keith faltered, before letting out a breath, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have accused you of those things.”  
Lance looked at him, eyes carefully scanning over his form.  
“Alright,” Lance smiled brightly.  
Keith tilted his head to one side.  
“What?” he asked.  
“Alright, you’re sorry, I forgive you,” Lance shrugged.  
“Just like that?” Keith frowned.  
“Yup,” Lance nodded, “Unless there’s something else?”  
“I want to know why you don’t like me,” Keith said.  
Lance raised an eyebrow.  
“I don’t don’t like you,” he said.  
“What?”  
“Keith,” Lance sighed, “I don’t dislike you.”  
“Then why are you an ass to me?” Keith asked.  
Lance shrugged, “Because you’d ignore me otherwise, don’t try to deny it, and isn’t arguing and competing fun?”  
Keith had to admit, Lance was right.  
“Will you teach me to shoot?” he asked.  
“If you teach me hand-to-hand?”  
“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I should've put the notes at the end of the last chapter instead of the first shouldn't I...


	3. Friends III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith glanced up at the rustle of a magazine, Pidge dropping it on Lance’s desk.  
> “What’s this?” he asked, picking it up.  
> “Read it and see,” Pidge added.  
> Keith looked up from his work, resting his chin in his hands to watch them. Lance unrolled the magazine to look at it, before immediately bursting out laughing. This caught the attention of Hunk and Shiro, both of them looking up. Lance was practically crying at this point, head dropped on the desk.
> 
> Keith bonds with his new team and goes on his first solo mission. What could possibly go wrong?

Keith glanced up at the rustle of a magazine, Pidge dropping it on Lance’s desk.  
“What’s this?” he asked, picking it up.  
“Read it and see,” Pidge added.  
Keith looked up from his work, resting his chin in his hands to watch them. Lance unrolled the magazine to look at it, before immediately bursting out laughing. This caught the attention of Hunk and Shiro, both of them looking up. Lance was practically crying at this point, head dropped on the desk.  
“Lance? Buddy?” Hunk said.  
Lance gestured with his hand at the magazine, face buried in his arms. Hunk reached over, grabbing the magazine. He took one look at the cover and laughed. Keith’s curiosity got the better of him. Leaning over, he grabbed the magazine out of Hunk’s hands.   
MACCLAIN AND ALTEA? A UNION OF TWO LOVERS?  
On it was emblazoned with a picture of Lance and Allura, jut walking down the street.  
“They think, we’re lovers!” Lance howled.  
“No no, they think you’re getting married,” Pidge corrected, making everyone laugh harder.

It wasn’t uncommon for the high-class alphas to marry their alpha children together. Thus, ensuring an alpha heir, because that was definitely how that worked. The amount of time Lance and Allura spent together, working together and being childhood friends, it’s no wonder they assumed something like that was happening. For the people who actually knew them, it was the strangest thing.

Everyone was laughing, even as they were stared at by people in the room. Pidge had the magazine in her hand, reading highlights from the article. Lance was hiccupping from the laughter, tears trickling down his face.  
“I was thinking of a spring wedding honey,” Allura said suddenly, leaning over.  
That did it for Lance and Pidge, Lance teetered sideways before hitting the floor, Pidge slipped off the desk with a thump.

****

Lance groaned, dropping his head back.  
“You have got to be kidding me! My car is full!” he protested.  
“We will make an exception, just for you,” Pidge grinned, “This is hilarious.”  
“Your poor wife,” Shiro snorted.    
“You’re going to want this,” Keith said, handing over the spare car in the box.  
“Hunk?”  
“Sorry buddy, but this is hilarious,” Hunk shrugged.  
Lance let out a long whine as he took the car out of Keith’s hand.

Keith hadn’t really known what to expect when Lance, Hunk and Pidge had shown up at the apartment, with massive tubs of food and a pile of board games. He really hadn’t known what to do when they’d declared it ‘game night’. Now though, playing the game of life with Pidge being a multi-millionaire and Lance having way too many kids, Keith was having the time of his life. The food Hunk had made them all had been delicious and Keith was pretty sure he hadn’t laughed this much in ages.

“It’s a pity they don’t have grandkids in this game,” Pidge said idly, counting up her money.  
Lance groaned, muffled by the hands over his face. Hunk was patting his back in sympathy.  
“You know you get extra points for full cars, right?” Shiro said.  
Lance glowered at him, then at Keith when he snorted in laughter.  
“How are you affording all these kids?” Keith said, “You’re flat broke.”  
“I want a vasectomy,” Lance said.  
“This is the game of life, you can’t have a vasectomy,” Pidge crossed her arms.  
“You broke the rules so I could have a second car, now that car is full I want a vasectomy,” Lance crossed his arms.  
Pidge tapped her chin, humming thoughtfully.  
“Well Keith is our doctor,” she shrugged.  
Lance turned his eyes on Keith, big and innocent and beautiful. Keith melted almost instantly, but there was no way he could let Lance know that.  
“Hmm, I don’t know.”  
“Please,” Lance said, fluttering his eyelashes.  
Keith was gone, damn those pretty eyes.  
“Fine,” he sighed.  
Lance whooped, throwing his hands into the air.

****

Keith blinked awake as his pillow moved, burrowing his face into the really nice smelling material beneath his face. Suddenly it jerked and the sound of laughter snapped Keith out of his sleepy haze. He remembered game night, then watching a movie. He must’ve fallen asleep. He sat up quickly, removing his face from where it had been smooshed in Lance’s shirt.

“And he’s awake!” Lance laughed, “How was your nap?”  
Keith huffed, feeling his cheeks heating up.  
“You’re a bit bony,” he said, “Not very comfortable.”  
Lance pouted, letting out a huff of breath. Keith stretched his arms above his head, before rolling his shoulders.  
“You weren’t complaining when you were drooling all over me,” Lance shrugged.  
“I was not drooling,” Keith automatically denied, while subtly trying to check Lance’s shirt.  
“Are you checking my shirt?”  
“No.”  
Lance narrowed his eyes suspiciously, Keith stared back.  
“I don’t know about drooling but you were snoring up a storm,” Pidge said idly, splayed out across Lance’s legs.  
Keith kicked out, hitting her hip with the ball of his foot. Pidge idly slapped him.  
“We should probably go,” Hunk said, stretching.  
Lance groaned, arching his back. Keith forced his eyes away from the smooth strip of skin exposed by his t-shirt rising.  
“See you later then,” Lance groaned, tossing Pidge off and clambering to his feet.  
“Yeah, see you.”

****

“Hey Hunk,” Keith said, “Do you mind looking over this for me?”  
Hunk slid out from under the car he was working on, wiping his fingers on a rag.  
“Sure? What is it?” he asked, tossing it over his shoulder.  
“It’s just my report on our last mission, it can wait if you’re busy?”   
“Nah, it’s alright, I’m due for a break anyway,” Hunk grinned at him, “Just give me a minute to clean up and I’ll look it over.”  
“Thanks,” Keith sighed, “I’m trying to get Allura to put me on some more important missions.”  
“Ah, she hounding you about paperwork?” Hunk chuckled, “She does like her records, anyway, I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

Hunk hummed to himself as he read Keith’s report.  
“This is good,” he said, smiling, “I think you’ve covered all the important points and you’ve kept it concise, well done.”  
Keith let out a breath of relief, slumping against the counter.  
“Good.”  
He’d spent a long time on that report, he had really wanted to get it perfect.  
“You want some lunch?” Hunk asked, sliding the report back over to him.  
“I’m alright,” Keith said, at the same time his stomach rumbled.  
“So lunch?”

Pidge and Lance wandered in not long after, both sporting incredibly heavy eyebags and the thick scent of stress. Hunk winced at how the two of them looked, Keith felt a pang of pity for them. It wasn’t unusual for Pidge to look that rough, but Lance always looked incredibly well put together. Not that he ever noticed.

“Do you guys want some food?” Hunk asked softly.  
Lance groaned, wandering over to lean up against him. Hunk automatically wrapped Lance in a hug.  
“Please,” Pidge replied, collapsing onto a barstool.  
“What happened to you two?” Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“We’ve been up all night with Allura,” Pidge yawned.  
“There’s been a lead and we were following it and coming up with a plan,” Lance grumbled lightly, before he yawned widely.

Hunk guided Lance over to sit at the breakfast bar, who immediately slumped over to rest his forehead on the cool marble.  
“We’ve almost got it though,” Pidge said.  
Lance groaned, “Apparently sleep is for the weak.”  
“It is,” Pidge replied, clearly nodding off.  
Hunk placed a couple of plates of sandwiches between the two of them.

The two of them devoured the plate almost instantly, fighting over the last sandwich before Hunk appeased them by cutting it in half.  
“If Allura asked we’re not napping anywhere,” Lance said, pulling a dozing Pidge to her feet.  
She slumped against him, not really trying to keep herself upright.  
“It’s alright,” Hunk smiled, “Get some rest.”  
Lance smiled, before pulling Pidge up onto his back.  
“See you guys later yeah.”

****

The scent of the club was thick and heavy, it made him want to vomit. The heady smell of slick and arousal, there was no doubt what people were after.  
“You doing all right there Keith?” Pidge asked through his earpiece, making him flinch slightly.  
“I’m fine,” he replied, eyes scanning the crowd.  
“Smells pretty bad right?” she asked idly.  
“That’s an understatement,” Keith grumbled lightly.  
“Well, just get it over with then,” Pidge grumbled.  
Keith glanced over at Hunk, leaning against the bar at the other side of the nightclub. The beta shot nodded at him, before turning back to the bar. Keith let out a long breath, reminding himself he only needed to concern himself with his part of the mission. Hunk would keep an eye out for him.

Getting to the back of the club was surprisingly easy, the few guards that were there didn’t pay him any attention.   
“Well that was easy,” Pidge sighed, “Take look around his office, I’m going to help Lance and Shiro for a bit.”  
“Alright,” Keith said softly, taking the stairs up.  
The office was locked, but it wasn’t too difficult for him to pick it and slip inside without a sound. It was a bit of a mess. A desk with papers scattered over it, overflowing filing cabinets and a chair stacked with files. Well, he may as well get started.

It was only the second mission Allura had allowed him and Shiro on, the first time Keith had to undertake his part of the task alone. Arguably, Shiro and Lance had the most dangerous part of the mission, searching through the nearby ‘abandoned’ building to see what they could find. All Keith had to do was look hopefully find some incriminating evidence without getting caught, with Hunk watching out for him. He removed the small USB Pidge had provided him with from the lining of his sleeve, sliding it into the laptop on the desk. The small icon signifying it was hacking in showed up on the screen, along with a percentage bar. Now he could look through the folders while he waited.

“How’s it going up there,” Hunk sounded in his ear suddenly.  
“Reasonably well, there are a lot of papers here,” Keith replied, diving into one of the boxes, “How’s everything down there.”  
“No ones headed anywhere near the back, the owners are all too preoccupied,” Hunk said.  
“Keep me posted,” Keith said.  
“No problem,” Hunk replied.

Scouring through each folder was taking some time, he wasn’t finding anything of importance. Keith sighed, he knew this would be a problem. The owner would not keep evidence of illegal activity out in the open for anyone to look at. Carefully hopping around the office, Keith scoured the area for a safe. Nothing. The USB was almost finished with its download, once it was done ideally, he should get out of there. That was when he heard the explosion.

“What was that?” Keith asked, tapping his earpiece, “Pidge, what was that.”  
“Keith, we need to go,” Hunk said suddenly, “That was where Shiro and Lance were, we need to go.”  
“Ok,” Keith said, checking the laptop.  
100%. Pulling the USB out of the laptop, Keith cautiously made his way downstairs.  
“Keith, Hunk, we’ve had a little trouble, head over to the pickup,” Pidge said.  
“On it,” Keith replied, before glancing out of the door.  
Just like when he entered the back, no one noticed him leave either. Although that probably had more to do with everyone panicking because of the explosion than anything else. A large hand clamped over Keith’s shoulder, making him jump.  
“Come on, let’s go,” Hunk said, pulling him along.

****

The fake delivery van was pulled up at the pickup, Allura in the driver’s seat nervously drumming the steering wheel.  
“Quickly, we need to go pick up Shiro and Lance,” she said.  
Hunk and Keith clambered into the bank, their glitzy outfits for the club were too conspicuous. Slamming the back doors shut, they staggered as Allura shot off. Hurriedly they strapped themselves into the seats in the back at opposite sides, looking nervously at each other. Allura didn’t seem all that interested in talking, her scent heavy and thick.

They pulled up a short distance away from the ‘abandoned’ building. Allura was panting a little, clenching the wheel.  
“What happened?” Keith asked.   
“There was an explosion,” Pidge suddenly said in his earpiece, “There were a couple of children in one of the rooms and a rigged laptop, Lance is injured but ok.”  
Hunk sucked in a breath, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. His scent immediately clouded with worry.  
“He’s ok Hunk,” Keith said softly, “Pidge said he was ok.”  
Hunk looked over at him, pale and twisting his fingers.  
Keith didn’t know if he was helping, but he carefully reached over and patted Hunk’s hand.

“Open the doors,” Allura said suddenly.  
Keith unstrapped himself, throwing open the doors to see Shiro and…  
“Lance,” he said softly.  
Lance was completely limp in Shiro’s arms, unconscious and badly injured. There were two kids hanging onto Shiro’s sleeves. Keith quickly reached out, grabbing Lance’s limp body and pulling him into the back of the van. He was surprisingly heavy, his back sticky and unpleasantly hot. Hunk helped the two children in, strapping them down in seats. Shiro hopped into the back alongside them, shutting the doors so Allura could set off.

Keith held on tightly to Lance as they weaved through the streets, making sure they didn’t slip around the back. He flipped the alpha over at Shiro’s instruction, making a distressed noise at the mess that was his back. Shiro very carefully cut off Lance’s protective vest and shirt, peeling them away. Lance tensed and made an agonised sound when Shiro started treating him. Keith tried to sooth him as best he could, hushing softly and trying to calm his scent.  
“It’s ok Lance, it’s going to by ok,” he said softly, reassuring himself as much as Lance.  
The alpha grabbed his shirt, clenching it tightly as his eyes fluttered open.  
“Hey,” Keith said softly, “We’re getting you back, you’re going to be ok.”  
“The kids?” Lance croaked out softly.  
“They’re fine buddy,” Hunk called out, “They’re going to be just fine.”  
“Good,” Lance smiled, before slipping into unconsciousness.

****

Keith hovered, staring at the door where they had taken Lance. His heart was pounding, his mouth dry. It was a strange thing, the thought of loosing Lance, he was starting to shake. A warm hand rested on his shoulder, he looked up at Shiro.  
“Are you alright? You’re not injured are you?” he asked.  
Keith shook his head, “No, I’m not injured.”  
“Are you alright though?” Shiro asked, squeezing his shoulder.  
“I, I don’t know,” Keith said, “I feel strange.”  
Shiro nodded, pulling Keith into a one-armed hug.  
“Your pack member is injured, it will shake you up a bit,” he said.  
Keith stiffened, pulling away.  
“My pack member?” Keith said, frowning.  
“Yeah,” Shiro smiled.  
Keith’s eyes widened, and his breath left him. He was part of a pack. Somewhere along the line they had become a pack, Keith hadn’t even realised.  
“Oh.”

Keith showered, attempting to get the scent of the club off his skin. With that done and a fresh set of clothes on, he felt a little better. Pidge found him not long after, arms crossed across her chest, lent against the wall.  
“The kids are going to be ok,” Pidge said, “Lance did a good job of protecting them.”  
“Lance did what?” Keith asked, frowning slightly.  
“Jumped in front of the explosion to protect the kids,” Pidge sighed.  
“Of course he did,” Keith sighed, “But I hear he’s going to be ok?”  
“Well yeah,” Pidge shrugged, “Lance is tough.”  
A tenseness Keith didn’t know had settled in the base of his spine unravelled, his shoulders slumped and he let out a long breath.  
“Come on, we’ll show you where we go if one of us is injured,” Pidge gestured.   
Keith couldn’t help but follow after her.

He was led to the first room Keith had found them in, the one that smelled so much like comfort and home Keith had wanted to curl up and never leave. He hadn’t had the guts to go there before, it smelled too much like a pack, a comfort that didn’t belong to him, a safety he hadn’t earned. Now though, he was a part of the pack, Pidge was inviting him in.

The room was very small, full of soft blankets and pillows forming a fort on the floor. A tv was set up at one side, a game console underneath the controllers scattered on the ground. Hunk and Shiro were already there, Hunk lent against the pillowed back, fast asleep. Shiro smiled up at the two of them, Pidge wandered over and immediately curled up on her side. Keith hesitated for only a second before joining them. It was unbelievable comfortable, the blankets offering plenty of padding from the floor, the scent encompassing him in pure comfort. He yawned, stretching slightly. He closed his eyes, but just couldn’t sleep. Even with the warmth of the pack couldn’t erase his worry.

****

The door opened, Keith’s head immediately snapped up.  
Allura smiled at them, “Lance is awake.”  
Pidge, who had been dead to the world only a few seconds ago, snapped to attention.  
“Lance is awake?”  
Allura nodded. Pidge sprang to her feet, shaking Hunk.  
“Come on, Lance is awake!”  
Hunk blinked sleepily, before sitting bolt upright.  
“What?”  
“Lance is awake.”  
Hunk clambered to his feet, grinning.  
“Come on then,” he said, holding out a hand to Shiro and Keith.

The sterile scent made him wince a little as they were taken to Lance’s room. The door was pushed open, Lance’s scent and the beeping of machines immediately assaulted his senses. Lance looked so small in the bed, bandaged up and tangled in machined. He glanced over at them, smile brightening his face.  
“Hey,” his voice sounded rough but glad to see them.  
“Hey buddy,” Hunk walked over, “How are you feeling.”  
“Dude,” Lance laughed, “I am high as a kite right now.”  
Pidge joined them, evil grin on her face.  
“I should have realised, would’ve thought up some embarrassing questions,” she said, patting his arm.  
“You’re so mean,” Lance wined.  
Shiro walked over too, patting Lance’s shoulder.  
“The kids are doing great, they asked after you,” he said.  
“Yeah?” Lance smile shifted to dopey, “Good.”  
Keith edged in cautiously, resting his hand on Lance’s. Lance looked down at his hand, before looking up at Keith. He grinned.  
“Hi,” Lance said.  
Keith chuckled, “You’re looking better.”  
“I am?” Lance smiled, “Nice…Keith?”  
“Yeah?”  
“’m tired,” Lance slurred.  
“You should get some rest then,” Keith smiled.  
“Yeah,” Lance said drowsily, eyes slipping closed, “Welcome to the pack buddy.”


	4. Boyfriend I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith unintentionally keeps learning more and more about Lance and with each new think he learns, ends up liking him more and more. 
> 
> Unfortunately, omegas are starting to go missing, being kidnapped from the streets. Voltron needs to find out who is responsible, but that is easier said than done.

Heat hotels where places where lonely omegas could go to ride out their heats, full of soft blankets for nesting and safe from any rouge alphas. Keith had used it a lot when he was young, he’d spent almost a year in one when he first presented, the omegas working there very helpful and were basically the only reason he knew how to deal with his secondary sex. It was for this reason that Keith volunteered at least once a week.

He’d washed the windows, hoovered the floors, remade the beds form the empty rooms and delivered food to the rooms with people in them. Due to the fact Lance was injured and off work and there had been a sudden spate of omegas going missing, Keith hadn’t been able to go for a few weeks, normally too exhausted to move when he got home.

They needed a plumber, a couple of the washing machines needed replacing and one of the rooms needed refurbishing. As the omegas didn’t pay for a stay in the hotel and the government refused to find them, deeming them ‘unnecessary’, they depended purely on donations. Money was thin on the ground. Keith had called up several people and companies, many had refused to help, the others either had stupidly high prices or lowered them as much as they could, but it was still more than they could afford.

“Don’t worry, Keith, we’ll muddle through somehow,” Anne, the middle-aged omega currently manning the front desk said.  
Keith sighed, burying his face in his hand. If he could, he’d pay for the maintenance, or at lest the washing machines. The bell above the door jingled as it was opened, Keith buried his face in his notebook, so he didn’t have to talk to anyone.  
“Welcome to, oh hello,” Anne said, voice brightening at the end.  
“Hey Anne, good to see you again.”  
Keith’s head snapped up at the very familiar voice.  
“Lance?”

The alpha was leaning casually against the counter, a bright smile on his face.   
“Keith! Hey! What’re you doing here?” he asked, tilting his head to one side.  
Keith stared at him for a second.  
“I volunteer here, what are you doing here?”  
“I’m here to make a donation,” Lance shrugged.  
“Lance, you,” Anne started, but Lance cut her off.  
“Do you have a list of things that need doing?” he said.  
“Uh, yeah?” Keith frowned slightly, holding up the list.  
Lance lent over, grabbing it out of his hand.  
“Lance, you don’t need too,” Anne insisted as Lance looked the list over.  
“I want to,” Lance said, pulling out his phone, “Just give me a moment.”

Lance wandered away from the desk, leaning against the opposite wall. Keith stared at him.  
“What?” he asked, looking over at Anne.  
“So you know Lance then?” she asked.  
“I work with him, but that’s not the point,” Keith crossed his arms, “What’s that all about.”  
“Lance, well the McClains are some of our biggest donors, they practically keep this place open,” Anne said softly.  
Keith stared at Lance’s back, sighing slightly. Anne hummed slightly, smiling at him.  
“What?” Keith frowned.  
“Oh, nothing,” Anne shrugged.

“Ok, just book them in,” Lance said wandering back over, “It’s all sorted money-wise.”  
“Thank you Lance,” Anne smiled.  
“It’s no problem, I wish I could do more,” Lance replied.  
“Believe me, you do more than enough,” Anne said.  
“I should probably get going,” Lance said, checking his watch, “Oh, I should really get going.”  
“Keith, you can go too,” she said.  
“But I can help more,” Keith said, frowning.  
“No, it’s alright,” Anne waved her hand, “Go do something with the rest of your day.”  
Keith narrowed his eyes, not really liking the smirk on her face.  
“Alright,” he said suspiciously.

“How did you get here?” Keith asked as they stepped outside.  
“I took the bus,” Lance shrugged, “Parking is a nightmare, but it looks like I’m going to be late anyway.”  
“Do you want a lift back home? I brought my bike?” Keith said, shrugging.  
Lance’s face lit up, a wide smile splitting his face and lighting up his eyes. If Keith had known Lance’s face would brighten that much, he would’ve offered sooner.  
“Hell yes!”

“So how come you help out at the hotel?” Lance asked, as they made their way to where Keith’s bike was parked.  
“They helped me out when I was younger,” Keith shrugged, “Why did you come down?”  
“To donate?” Lance snorted, then sighed at Keith’s unimpressed stare, “Well, I used to go with Veronica when I was younger. Until she, um.”  
Keith wasn’t sure what to do, reaching out to squeeze Lance’s arm in what he hoped was comfort. Veronica McClain was the only omega child of the main branch of the McClain family, she was also Lance’s big sister. Was being the important word there. She’d died a few years ago.  
“Anyway, I stopped going for a while. As it turned out my college roommate was an omega, a very late bloomer, he had no idea. He presented during the term, it made me remember how important these places for omegas were. I try to visit at least once a month, to see what they need.”  
They’d arrived at the bike by this point, Keith opening up the seat to pull out the helmets.   
“That’s really cool Lance,” he said, smiling.  
“Nah Keith, that’s really cool!” Lance exclaimed, staring at Keith’s bike.

****

Keith groaned, tossing his keys in the bowl by the door. Kicking off his boots and throwing his coat on the hook, Keith jumped over the back of the sofa to land next to Shiro.  
“How was volunteering?” Shiro asked, dropping his spoon back into his bowl of cereal.  
“Volunteering was great,” Keith answered, tucking his feet under his butt.  
“So?” Shiro asked, “What’s wrong?”  
“Wrong?  Nothing’s wrong, I just didn’t know the McClains donated massive amounts of money to heat hotels,” Keith grumbled, “Guess who I ran into donating a massive amount of money.”  
“So you ran into Lance,” Shiro smirked.  
Keith did not like that look on his face.  
“Yes, and I made a massive mistake,” Keith groaned.  
Shiro’s face dropped into disappointment, he sighed.  
“You didn’t yell at him did you?”  
“Worse.”  
“You hit him didn’t you? Keith I’ve told you, you can’t just punch your problems away…”  
“I didn’t punch him,” Keith rolled his eyes.  
“Then what did you do?” Shiro said suspiciously.  
“I let him ride on the back of my bike.”  
“What?”

“Ok, let me see if I’ve got this,” Shiro said, looking up from where he’d buried his head in his hands, “You offered Lance a ride back on your motorbike, forgetting that meant he would have to sit right behind you and hold onto your waist. I’m not even going to go into the full description you gave me, because I’m embarrassed for you and honestly think you should write poetry. And apparently you keep forgetting how kind and compassionate Lance is because you bring it up every single time.”  
Keith glared at him, crossing his arms and looking away.  
“And?” he mumbled.  
“And I think you should ask him out,” Shiro shrugged.  
Keith sputtered, “No I shouldn’t.”  
“Yeah, you should,” Shiro nodded.  
“No, I’m going to bury my feelings down and never think or bring them up ever again,” he replied.  
Shiro stared at him, blinking. Until he groaned and buried his face in his hands.  
“Terrible idea.”  
“No it’s not.”

****

It was a terrible idea. Lance was back at work the next week and apparently burying his feelings was a lot harder than he thought it would be. It really didn’t help that Lance seemed to want to spend as much time as possible together. He made Keith laugh when they were working on their paperwork, brought him lunch and sat next to him during meetings. It was training though, Keith was pretty sure Lance was trying to kill him.

The two of them were sparing, well lightly sparring as Allura didn’t want Lance overexerting himself. If anyone asked, he was going easy on Lance and that’s how the other man managed to pin him. It had nothing to do with the fact he was wearing a tank top, a tight one, or that Lance had suggested going swimming after training. With that mental image filling his head, Keith hadn’t realised he was falling until he hit the floor.

The air left his lungs with an ‘oof,’ Lance knelt over him, pinning him to the ground.  
“Gotcha,” Lance hissed softly, basically whispering in Keith’s ear.  
Shit, the air was practically crackling with sexual tension and Keith was so, so thirsty. Suddenly Lance was sitting back and Keith found himself missing the warmth from the other man.  
“Ha! I pinned you!” Lance grinned.  
Keith narrowed his eyes, looping his legs around Lance and flipping them over.  
“Did you now,” Keith smiled, “Don’t get too cocky.”  
Lance smirked, Keith braced himself for some form of euphemism or dirty joke.  
“You guys need us to come back later?” Pidge suddenly shouted from the doorway.  
Keith immediately flushed and clambered off Lance, falling back onto the floor.  
“No, that’s not, no!” he sputtered.  
Pidge smirked.  
“Come on, Allura has called a meeting,” Hunk sighed, walking in to help them to their feet.  
“Although you guys may want to clean up first,” Pidge added, “You don’t want Allura know you were canoodling on her training deck.”  
“We weren’t!” Keith protested.  
“Canoodling?” Lance said at the same time, “Who the hell uses canoodling?”  
Keith gaped at him, “That’s what you have a problem with?”

****

Lance slipped into the seat beside Keith in the meeting room, hair slightly ruffled from being towel-dried. Allura didn’t comment on their lateness, obviously knowing why they were.  
“Alright then, we have some more information on the missing omegas. We believe they are related to the Daibazaal family,” Allura started.  
Lance groaned lightly, Keith shared his sentiment. The Daibazaal family were the most powerful and influential alpha family, basically all of the other families were under their thumb. They seemed to take pleasure in making life hell for omegas.  
“I know,” Allura sighed, “As you are probably well aware, actually finding something to incriminate them is going to be very difficult, outright accusing them will not work. We need a plan and to act very cautiously.”  
They all nodded, very aware of the people who worked for them, the galra.  
“We will continue to gather information, just be aware there will be a lot of missions until we can find a way to bring them to justice.”

The meeting carried on much the same way, talking about Zarkon, his wife Honerva and their mysterious son Lotor. Zarkon and his wife were well-known and unfortunately very popular with most alphas, the interviews with them always left Keith sick to his stomach. Their son Lotor however, was kept well out of the limelight, in fact there was very little information about him. Keith and Shiro would be going on an information gathering mission in a week’s time. Keith was glad, at least he had something to keep his mind off Lance.

The meeting ended and to Keith’s immense relief, Shiro took Lance away to discuss some mission files. Unfortunately, this left Keith at the mercy of Hunk and Pidge. He was dragged into a side room, door closed and both of them blocking the door.

“Um, guys?” he asked.  
“How long have you liked Lance?” Pidge asked, making Keith’s jaw drop open.  
“Is it really that obvious?” he asked, before his brain had a chance to kick in and deny it.  
“I hate to say this, but it’s really obvious,” Hunk said, shaking his head.  
“Well, to everyone but Lance apparently,” Pidge sighed, “The real question though, is when are you going to tell him.”  
“I’m not,” Keith shook his head, “I’m not going to tell him.”  
“What?”  
“Why not?”  
They both said at the same time.  
“Because Lance,” Keith let out a long breath, “Because it wouldn’t work.”  
Hunk frowned deeply, “Well, why not?”  
“We don’t go together,” Keith shook his head.  
Pidge narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.  
“Nu uh,” she said shaking her head, “Don’t give me that shit, just because you’re not…”  
“It just wouldn’t work, ok Pidge,” Keith snapped, stalking forward and pushing past them.

He could picture it now, Lance returning home to a pretty omega and their six kids. They’d settle down for a delicious home-cooked family meal, chatting about their mundane lives. It was all so happy and domestic and there was no place for Keith.

****

Keith was scared and did not know how they were going to get out of this one.   
“Take a right here,” Shiro said weakly.  
Keith had no idea how Shiro knew where to go, or even if he did, but he had no better ideas, or any choice.   
“Pidge, come in,” Keith said desperately, but just like every other time the coms were nothing but static.  
Shiro suddenly stumbled and Keith was almost pulled over trying to catch his weight. He pulled the two of them into an empty room, lowering Shiro onto the ground. The alpha groaned in relief, before hissing as Keith pressed more pressure on his wound.  
“How’re you doing?” he asked, trying not to look at the amount of blood soaking the other man’s side.  
“I’ve, been better,” Shiro groaned.  
Keith glared at him, “I’m going to try contact Pidge again, put pressure on that.”

No luck. It had all been going so smoothly, they’d got the data and were on their way out when the communications had been cut. Then, they were spotted and Shiro was shot in the side.  
“Keith,” Shiro called softly, “It’s going to be alright.”  
“I’d believe you more if you didn’t sound like you were in agony,” Keith sighed, crossing his arms.  
Shiro chuckled weakly, “This? Painful? Nah, I’ve had worse and you can’t even say no you haven’t.”  
Shiro gestured towards his prosthetic arm. Glancing out of the door, Keith breathed out in relief when he didn’t see anyone. Wandering over, he dropped to sit beside Shiro.

“You know you were a complete brat when I first met you,” Shiro said idly.  
Keith raised an eyebrow, “That’s what you want to talk about right now?”  
“It’s something that’s been on my mind a long time,” Shiro nodded.  
“We’ve know each other seven years, and now you bring that up?” Keith shook his head.  
“It felt like the right moment,” Shiro nodded, face serious.  
Keith shook his head, “I was a complete brat when you came back.”  
Shiro frowned deeply, “Yeah, sorry about that.”  
Keith shook his head, “What are you talking about, you didn’t have much of a choice.”  
“No, but I’m still sorry.”  
“I was fine, I made it through didn’t I?”  
“I guess you didn’t turn out too bad.”

There was movement from outside, Keith immediately tensed, clambering to his feet. He pulled his knife out, bracing and waiting. The door opened and Keith bared his teeth. A man walked in, immediately pulling a gun on them. He didn’t pull the trigger though and Keith had a feeling if he moved, the beta would.  
“Have we met before?” he asked, frowning at Keith.  
“Ulaz?” Shiro asked from behind Keith.  
The man lowered his gun, “Shiro?”  
Keith glanced between the two of them, confusion written all over his face.  
“Keith, Ulaz helped me escape when I lost my arm,” Shiro said.  
“We need to get out of here,” Ulaz said, “Do you have an escape plan?”  
“Yes, but our coms are down, we can’t contact for help,” Keith said, helping Ulaz hitch Shiro up onto his shoulders.  
“Ah sorry, that may have been me, don’t worry, they’ll come back on in a few minutes,” Ulaz said, supporting Shiro as they made their way out of the room.

They made their way out of the room, down the many winding corridors. Keith could practically taste freedom when their path was blocked by a burly guard. Ulaz’s hands were full and Keith only had his knife, even if that wasn’t the case they probably couldn’t have done much, a gun was pointed directly between Keith’s eyes. He glared at the guard, trying to think of some way out of this situation. They were so close.

The sound of glass breaking and suddenly the guard keeled over, falling face-down directly in front of them. Keith edged forward, staring at the body of the guard.  
“What?” he mumbled.  
His earpiece crackled into life.  
“Need a hand samurai?” a very familiar voice said.  
“Lance?”  
“Lucky you guys were close to a window,” Lance laughed and Keith had never been more happy to hear him.  
“Well done Lance,” Shiro said suddenly, snapping Keith back to attention.  
“You guys better get out of there, Pidge is ready for pick up,” Lance said suddenly, “I’ll watch your back.”

****

Shiro was taken away on a gurney the second they arrived at the facility, Keith’s legs shaky as he exited. He followed after where Shiro went without even thinking about it, stopping only when he passed the set of double doors to the infirmary. His brain was functioning enough to know he would just be in the way. He didn’t know how long he stood there before his knees buckled, shaking so bad he couldn’t support his own weight.  
“Hey, easy,” Lance said, catching Keith before he hit the floor.  
Keith hadn’t even seen or heard him enter.  
“Keith? Keith are you hurt?” Lance asked hurriedly, trying to check for injuries while supporting Keith.  
Keith shook his head, too emotionally drained to even bother trying to fight his instincts or wants. He clung to Lance, burying his face in the other man’s neck. Lance’s scent, though mostly covered with scent blockers, was a comfort.  
“Shall we go sit down?”  
Keith nodded, allowing Lance to guide him away.

Hunk and Pidge joined them soon after, all of them curling up together in the blankets. It immediately reminded him of the time they were waiting for Lance to get better. Allura padded in not long after, flopping down alongside them.  
“He’s going to be alright,” she sighed, “That’s what they tell me anyway.”  
“Of course he’ll be fine!” Lance shrugged, jostling Keith slightly, “His incredible muscles will save him.”  
“That makes no sense,” Pidge grumbled.  
“Yeah, it does,” Lance nodded.  
“No it doesn’t,” Keith mumbled.  
“Yes it does!”  
Keith shook his head, too exhausted to really argue with him.  
“Whatever you say.”

****

Allura shook him awake carefully, pressing a finger to her lips. Keith blinked sleepily at her, rolling out from the comfort of Lance’s arms.  
“Shiro’s awake,” Allura whispered softly.  
Keith’s eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, careful not to wake Lance, Hunk or Pidge.  
“Come on,” Allura gestured.  
The two of them slipped out of the room, making their way down the corridor.  
“He’s going to be just fine in a while, needs lots of time to recover but will be fine,” Allura said.  
Keith nodded, letting out a long breath.

Shiro, surprisingly, looked better than Lance did when he was in the infirmary.  
“Hey,” he smiled lightly.  
“Hi, how are you feeling?” Keith asked, walking over and perching beside him on the chair.  
“Great, seriously, Lance was not kidding these painkillers are strong,” Shiro chucked lightly.  
Keith smiled, shaking his head. Shiro narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to one side. Keith lent away a little.  
“You smell a lot like Lance,” he said, a smirk spreading across his face.  
Keith groaned, burying his face in his hands.  
“You almost died, and my love life is what you want to talk about?”  
“Well now is a good a time as any,” Shiro nodded, “You’d feel bad if you ran away from me now.”  
“Wanna test that theory?” Keith crossed his arms.  
“No, but seriously, as I was laying there dying,” Shiro started dramatically, Keith groaned, “I lay there and thought about all my regrets, what I could have done differently.”  
Keith dropped his head back, running his fingers through his hair. Shiro jerking his fist dramatically, before reaching over to grab Keith’s arm.  
“Make sure your only regrets are the unavoidable ones,” Shiro said, frowning seriously.  
“I think you need to sleep those painkillers off,” Keith sighed, shaking his head.  
“Keith,” Shiro said seriously.  
“If I tell you I’ll think about it, will you sleep?” Keith replied.  
“Ok,” Shiro nodded, eyelids dropping.

Shiro rambled a bit before he finally dropped off, Keith had to bite back his laughter several times, regretting not bringing his phone to record it. Eventually, Shiro’s eyes slipped closed and he dozed off. Keith let out a long breath, stretching his back as he stood up. Pushing open the door, he almost ran into Lance on the other side.  
“How’s he doing?” the alpha asked softly.  
“What’s in those painkillers?” Keith replied, “He’s rambling.”  
Lance snorted into his hand.  
“Did you film it?”  
“No, didn’t have my phone,” Keith replied.  
“Oh no, Pidge’ll be disappointed,” Lance shook his head, “You’ve let us down.”  
Keith smiled, “I promise to carry my phone around in case of drugged up friends.”  
“Don’t tell me that,” Lance shrugged, “It’s Pidge you’ll have to appease.”  
“I’m sure I’ll think of a way to make it up to her,” Keith said, rolling his eyes.  
Lance nodded, “You’d better.”

  
Keith smiled, tensing a little as Lance flung an arm around his shoulders. He relaxed into it quickly enough, shaking his head, feeling so much lighter now he knew Shiro was going to be alright. Without even thinking about it, Keith tilted his head, pressing a kiss to the underside of Lance’s jaw. Both of them froze, Keith’s eyes widening.  
“I’ve got to go,” Keith said, turning and sprinting away.  
Keith!” Lance shouted after him, “Keith! You can’t just! Don’t just run off! Keith!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just assume after that incident Lance chases him down and they actually have a conversation about their relationship. Shiro is in denial about his drugged-up ramblings and Pidge managed to get a hold of the security footage.
> 
> So this is the next part, I hope you enjoyed it. Easter break is finally here and I get to spend all my time revising and working...yay! Fun!
> 
> Ok, so I'm going to try to update at least once a week...they may not be on consistent days but it will happen.


	5. Boyfriend II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith could smell pancakes. He had a split-second panic of, oh god Shiro is trying to cook, before realising the smell was nice and the smoke alarm hadn’t gone off. It was then he remembered the impromptu movie night at Lance’s and everyone falling asleep one by one. Under normal circumstances he would probably regret falling asleep not in a bed, but Lance’s sofa was unbelievably squishy and comfortable. If he was being honest, it was probably better to sleep on than Keith’s own bed.
> 
> Keith and Lance navigate their relationship.

Keith could smell pancakes. He had a split-second panic of, oh god Shiro is trying to cook, before realising the smell was nice and the smoke alarm hadn’t gone off. It was then he remembered the impromptu movie night at Lance’s and everyone falling asleep one by one. Under normal circumstances he would probably regret falling asleep not in a bed, but Lance’s sofa was unbelievably squishy and comfortable. If he was being honest, it was probably better to sleep on than Keith’s own bed.

It took a little longer for Keith to register the warm weight on his chest and Lance’s scent filling his nostrils. Blinking open his eyes, Keith smiled lightly as he saw Lance’s head resting comfortably on his chest. Lance was still fast asleep, sprawled out between Keith’s legs, his two cats, Red and Blue, curled up in the small of his back. Keith could have very happily stayed there forever, but his stomach rumbled to demand attention.

Sliding his hand up Lance’s arm, Keith scratched lightly at his short hair.  
“Lance,” he said, “Time to wake up.”  
He shook Lance’s shoulder slightly.  
“Nu,” Lance mumbled, curling his arms tighter around Keith.  
“Come on, breakfast,” Keith said, grinning at Lance’s antics.  
Lance shook his head, clinging to Keith’s shirt.  
Red seemed to have reacted to the word, breakfast. She got up, walking up to Lance’s shoulder-blades to start padding at his shirt. Lance groaned, grumbling lightly as she dug her claws in.  
“Come on lovebirds! Pancakes are ready!” Pidge suddenly shouted, peaking over the breakfast bar to yell at them.  
Lance sighed, “Alright, alright, I’m up.”

Lance’s apartment was really, really nice. It made sense, even if Keith sometimes forgot, Lance was very wealthy. It was all so sleek and open-plan, with an incredible view over the city. One of the walls was entirely floor to ceiling windows, others scattered around lighting the whole place up with natural sunlight. Hunk was humming to himself as he cooked the pancakes, serving them up with an ease born only from practice.  
“Buddy, you should’ve woken me up,” Lance said, opening one of the cupboards to grab Red and Blue’s food.  
“Nah, it’s ok,” Hunk said, “You two looked so adorable all curled up together, I didn’t have the heart to disturb you.”  
“I would’ve,” Pidge said simply.  
Keith rolled his eyes, hopping up onto one of the bar stools next to Shiro.

“I took pictures,” Shiro said, “You guys were so cute.”  
“Delete them,” Keith said, narrowing his eyes.  
Shiro shook his head, “Nah, I think I’ll have use for these later.”  
“Delete them,” Keith grumbled softly, pulling his phone out, “You’re going to want to.”  
The two of them looked at each other, glaring, waiting for the other to back down. Keith jumped lightly as Lance’s warm hand rested on his hip, lips pressing against his cheek.  
“Come on, the pictures of us can’t be that embarrassing,” he mumbled lightly.  
Keith turned his head, so they were practically nose to nose, practically no space in-between them.  
“It’s the principle,” he muttered back.  
Every though was almost completely wiped from his mind when Lance pressed their lips together, it was only fleeting but it had the desired effect. Distracting Keith so they could get on with breakfast.

****

Actually going on dates proved to be very difficult. After all, they worked the same very demanding jobs. Keith also had volunteering and Lance seemed to always be busy. It meant that their relationship hadn’t progressed much past snuggling and they tried their hardest to make every second they were together count.

Keith stumbled slightly as Lance tugged him along, dodging between people and market stalls. Keith gripped Lance’s hand harder, making sure the two of them were not separated.  
“Lance, where are we going?” he asked, muttering an apology as he bumped into someone.  
“Here, look, this stand does the best cookies,” Lance called back.  
“Better than Hunk’s?” Keith smirked.   
Lance glared back at him.  
“Don’t make me choose.”  
Keith laughed.

The cookies were really nice, they found a bench overlooking the night time market. Lance was shivering slightly.  
“Cold?” Keith asked, shifting closer so they were pressed together.  
“A little,” Lance mumbled, reaching out to intertwine their fingers.  
Keith’s eyes widened, “Your hands are freezing!”   
Lance shrugged, “A little.”  
Catching Lance’s hands between his own, Keith rubbed them together to get some warmth back into them. Lance grinned at him.  
“What?” Keith grunted.  
“You’re cute,” Lance grinned.  
“Shut up,” Keith grumbled, dropping his hands.  
“Aww,” Lance cooed.  
Keith stood up, crossing his arms.  
“Come on, I think I saw a place selling hot chocolate, “ he said, “I’ll treat you.”  
“Yay! Best boyfriend ever!” Lance whooped, bouncing to his feet.  
Keith shook his head, grinning as Lance linked their fingers together and tucking their hands in his pocket.

This was it, they were stood outside Lance’s apartment. Keith wasn’t the best at social ques but he was pretty sure he was about to be invited up to Lance’s place. Right until Lance’s phone rang.  
“Sorry,” he mumbled, “Mind if I get this?”  
“No, it’s fine,” Keith shook his head.  
It wasn’t fine, but Keith didn’t want to seem desperate. It was a little awkward though, hovering there while Lance chattered away on his phone in Spanish. Pulling the phone away from his mouth, Lance leaned over.  
“Sorry, this is going to take a while, I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked softly.  
Keith sighed lightly, “Alright, see you tomorrow.”  
A soft kiss was pressed on his lips and Keith lent into it. Before it could become anymore than a soft press of lips, Lance was pulling away.  
“Bye,” he mumbled against Keith’s lips.  
“Bye,” Keith muttered back.

****

Keith had no idea what the hell was going on and from the look on Shiro’s face, he had no idea either. Hunk, Lance and Pidge seemed to be having a silent conversation. They were glaring at each other, but there was no hostility in their scents. Suddenly Pidge slammed her hands on her desk.  
“That’s it, Lance, come on,” she said, standing up with a scrape of her chair.  
“Right,” Lance nodded, uncharacteristically serious.  
“No, wait, guys,” Hunk called after them.  
“It’s ok buddy, we’ve got this,” Lance said, clapping him on the shoulder.  
“Lance, you don’t.”  
But the two of them had already walked off.

Hunk groaned and buried his face in his hands. Keith raised an eyebrow at Shiro who shrugged.  
“Hunk, what’s wrong?”  
Hunk sighed slightly, looking up at them.  
“Lance worked out that I liked someone,” Hunk mumbled.  
Shiro tilted his head to one side.  
“You like someone?”  
“Lance worked it out?” Keith said, surprised, “The same one who didn’t know he had a thing for me until you told him?”  
“He’s very perceptive when it’s not himself,” Hunk sighed, “Now they’re interfering.”  
“Back to you having a thing for someone, who is it?” Shiro said.  
Keith shot him an exasperated look.  
“You know Shay from human resources?” Hunk asked.  
“No?” Shiro said.  
“Yeah,” Keith said, “She’s really sweet.”

Lance and Pidge came back not long after, both of them munching on brownies.  
“Hunk, you have to marry her,” Pidge said.  
“Seriously due, we talked to her for about ten minutes and I swear I’m in love,” Lance groaned, “And these brownies are divine.”  
Pidge nodded enthusiastically.  
“If you don’t marry her, we will,” Pidge said.  
“Both of you?” Shiro chuckled.  
Lance nodded enthusiastically.  
“Sweetest thing ever.”  
“She was so kind!”  
Hunk smiled, shaking his head lightly.  
“If I go talk to her, will you two lay off?” he said.  
“It’s got to be a proper conversation, ask her out.”  
“And at least by the end of the day.”  
“Fine, now can we actually do some work?” Hunk said.

Lance and Pidge were hovering, legs bouncing as they glanced to each other and the door.  
“Guys, he’ll be fine,” Keith said, “Now have you actually done any work today?”  
“Keith,” Lance wined, draping himself over Keith’s back, “He gets all flustered and awkward, I don’t want him to blow it.”  
Keith sighed, rubbing under his chin. Lance automatically burrowed his face into Keith’s neck, appreciating his soothing scent through the blockers.  
“He’ll be just fine.”  
“Yeah, I mean if you can get Keith to date you I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Pidge said.  
Lance glared at her, Keith squeezed his arm as he spotted Hunk wandering over.  
“So how did it go?” he asked.  
“We’re going out Thursday,” Hunk grinned.  
Lance whooped as Pidge cheered.

****

Keith frowned as his phone rang, reaching over to where it was vibrating against the coffee table. He frowned even deeper as Lance’s name popped up in the caller ID, the alpha normally sent about twenty texts if he wanted Keith’s attention. Something bad must have happened.  
“Lance, what’s wrong?” Keith said the second he answered.  
“Keith, thank god,” Lance sounded very winded.  
Worry settled heavy in Keith’s chest, panic starting to build.  
“Can you watch Red and Blue for a few days?” and with that all the panic left, irritation replacing it.  
“Lance, I thought it was an emergency,” Keith sighed.   
“It is an emergency,” Lance replied, offended, “My brother’s wife has gone into labour and I need to go visit, Hunk’s away and I need someone to feed the cats.”  
“Surely you can wait a few days?” Keith sighed, clambering to his feet.  
He was well aware there was no way he was going to win this argument, it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to argue.   
“No! I need to go meet my new nephew! And mock my brother for fainting when he was born!” Lance wined.  
Keith laughed, pulling his boots on.  
“Fine,” Keith sighed, “I guess I can find the time.”  
“Come over and I’ll give you a key.”  
“On my way,” Keith replied, grabbing his jacket.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Lance said as he let Keith in.   
A suitcase was waiting in the living room, Lance was sprinting around throwing things into a bag.  
“It’s alright, you’re really excited about this?” Keith chuckled.  
Red trotted over, looking up with a meow. He picked her up before she started climbing her leg, stepping deeper into the room.  
Lance nodded, “New member of the family, of course I’m excited. Also, I get to see everyone, it’s rare that happens.”  
Keith smiled lightly, “So all your family’s coming over?”  
Lance nodded, “Well, the close ones, although my auntie might pop around.”  
“That must be nice,” Keith said absently, unintentionally squeezing Red closer.

He watched as Lance tossed a few more bits and pieces into a bag, before stopping in front of Keith.  
“Ok, so spare key,” Lance said, diving into a draw.  
Keith pulled his keys out, the small UFO keyring swinging slightly.  
“Not a word,” Keith warned as Lance’s eyes lit up when he spotted it.  
“Wasn’t going to say anything,” Lance grinned, handing the key over.  
Keith frowned at him, but it shifted into more of a pout when Lance pressed a kiss to his cheek.  
“Come on, I’ll show you how to sort the cats.”

“Look after my girls ok?” Lance said as he loaded up his car.  
“Don’t worry, only worry that they’ll love me more than you when you come back,” Keith nodded.  
Lance pouted, Keith lent forward to kiss it away.  
“I’ll see you in a week?” he asked.  
Lance smiled and nodded, pulling Keith closer to scent him. Keith relaxed into him, humming in contentment.  
“See you.”

****

“Keith’s being arrested!” Pidge shouted, “Go to jail! Do not pass go! Do not collect your money!”  
“I always knew it would end like this,” Shiro sniffed, “My poor little brother.”  
Keith shook his head, moving the small car around to jail.  
“Are you guys done?”  
“So tragic!”  
“He was so young!”  
“I am so sorry,” Allura said, resting her hand on Keith’s arm.  
“Seriously,” Keith grumbled, “Come on Shiro it’s your turn.”  
“Awh, is Keithy grumpy because he misses his boyfwend,” Pidge said.  
Keith rolled his eyes.  
“Fine, fine, I’ll go,” Shiro chuckled.  
Keith was never a big fan of monopoly, there was no skill involved. But Allura was joining them for game night and they were doing this to cheer him up.

Pidge owned half the bored, Allura owned the other. Shiro was basically bankrupt and Keith was back in jail, although at this point it was probably the best place he could be. Allura and Pidge were staring at each other, both of them rolling in money that kept switching between the two of them.  
“So are you going to pay your bail?” Pidge asked.  
“No way, I’ll lose all my money in ten seconds,” Keith shook his head.  
“You’ll have to leave eventually,” she said.  
“No I don’t,” Keith shook his head.  
His phone chimed with a message.  
“Not that I wouldn’t love to continue watching this, Lance wants to video chat,” Keith said, clambering to his feet.  
“Do you forfeit?” Allura said, head snapping to him.  
“Yeah, whatever.”

“Sorry, we were playing monopoly,” Keith said as Lance’s face appeared on the laptop screen.  
“Don’t worry,” Lance smiled, Keith practically melted, “Got to get completely annihilated by Pidge at least once a week.”  
“I don’t know, it looks like Allura is going to beat her,” Keith shrugged.  
“Allura’s playing?” Lance said, “Yeah, if anyone could beat Pidge it would be her.”  
“All the money keeps switching between the two of them,” Keith nodded.  
A sudden agonised yell came from the living room.  
“And it sounds like Shiro just went bankrupt,” Keith chuckled.  
Lance laughed, “Sounds about right.”

Lance talked excitedly about his new nephew, gesturing wildly. A big grin was plastered across his face, Keith couldn’t hope to stop his own smile as he talked.   
“And I called it Marco did faint during the birth!” Lance said the last part very loudly.  
Keith wondered why for a second, until he heard the shout from another room.  
“Fuck off Lance!”  
“Language! There are children in this house!” Lance yelled back, “You complete chicken!”  
“You know blood makes me dizzy asshole!” the person, who Keith assumed was Marco yelled back.  
“Can’t even stay conscious for the birth of his child!”  
“This is your last warning douchebag!”  
“Or his second, or his third! You would think he would become sensitized to it!”  
“That’s it!” Marco yelled, followed by the thundering of feet and slamming doors.  
“Well, I’m dead,” Lance smiled, completely unconcerned.  
“It was nice knowing you,” Keith replied, “I’ll let Red and Blue know what happened.”  
“Thanks,” Lance nodded, “Don’t hang up, I’ll be right back.”  
He vanished, a door opened and the sound of footsteps getting quieter and quieter.

Lance did return, about ten minutes later, looking slightly more ruffled.  
“So where were we?”  
Keith couldn’t hep but burst out laughing.

****

Blue meowed, bouncing around Keith’s feet, Red was sat by her food mat, staring at him.   
“Yes, give me a second,” Keith said, “I’ve got them right here.”  
Grabbing their full dishes off the side, he put them down, watching as the two cats immediately dove in. He lent against the counter, watching the two of them. It wasn’t exactly necessary, but sometimes one of them bullied the other off their food. He didn’t really want to leave either. It had been a week and he was really starting to miss Lance. The alpha’s scent had faded off him completely, so his apartment was the best place to help him relax.

Lance did say he could spend time with the cats if he wanted too, so Keith did. The stuffed mouse on the end of a string was their favourite, probably because it was filled with catnip. He ran it across the ground, the two of them sprinting, stumbling over each other, both cats trying to catch it. Keith was chuckling, watching the two of them play. The two of them froze suddenly, ears upright.  
“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, jumping slightly as they suddenly sprinted towards the door.  
It was then he heard the keys turning in the lock, Keith stood up, making his way to the door. It swung open.  
“Hey girls! Miss me? Oh, hi Keith?” Lance’s bright voice said, “You taking good care of my girls?”  
Keith smiled, “Hi.”

Lance made his way in, careful not to trip over the cats. He dumped his bag on the ground, dropping the handle of his suitcase. Keith made his way forward, smiling.  
“I was just playing with them,” Keith said, waving the mouse.  
“Yeah, they love that mouse,” Lance chuckled.  
They looked at each other, Keith should probably go. Lance was likely exhausted, he’d had a long journey.  
“I was thinking of ordering take out and watching a movie, want to join?” Lance asked, smiling at him.  
“Are you sure?” Keith asked, “I’m sure you’re tired.”  
Lance hummed, “Not to spend time with you.”  
Keith flushed, looking away.  
“Well if it’s what you want to do,” he muttered.  
“Only if you want to,” Lance smiled, reaching out to grab his arms.  
Keith nodded, moving forward to be wrapped in a hug.

Lance hadn’t reapplied his scent blocker after his shower, so as they curled up on the sofa together Keith was bathed in the scent of alpha and Lance. Keith edged closer, nuzzling into Lance’s scent gland. A deep rumbling started in his chest, it was very quiet but pressed together as they were there was no way Lance couldn’t hear and feel it.  
“Are you purring?” Lance hummed.  
“I might be,” Keith muttered back.   
Lance cooed, pulling Keith impossibly closer. Keith smiled lightly, tucking himself under Lance’s chin. Nosing carefully, Keith began to mouth at the sensitive skin below Lance’s jaw. Lance made a happy noise, sliding his hands up and down Keith’s back. Keith grinned, sucking lightly at the soft skin in front of him before shifting up to bite at his earlobe. Lance groaned, slipping his hands under Keith’s shirt. Keith pulled back, locking eyes with Lance, before diving in to press their lips together.

Lance was an incredible kisser, the smooth movement of his lips and tongue were always enough to make Keith melt. He splayed across Lance’s chest, pressing every inch of them together. Lance’s hands had made their way from under his shirt to down his jeans, squeezing his ass over his boxers. Keith was basically a puddle at this point, and from Lance’s scent and the erection beneath him, he could tell the alpha was too. Keith wined in dissatisfaction as Lance pulled away, pouting. Lance chuckled, rubbing their noses together.  
“How far do you want this to go?” Lance asked softly.  
Keith flushed slightly, but he was never one to back down when he wanted something.  
“All the way.”

Lance easily scooped Keith up under his thighs, Keith locking his arms around Lance’s neck and attacking his neck with bites and kisses. Keith laughed as he was tossed on the bed, bouncing on the springy mattress. Lance grinned, pulling off his shirt he dove onto the bed on top of Keith. Keith laughed, tangling a hand in Lance’s hair as he mouthed at Keith’s neck. Looping his legs around Lance’s hips, Keith pulling him down to grind their groins together. Lance panted, grabbing the bottom of Keith’s t-shirt to pull it over his head. Keith gasped at the feeling of Lance playing with his sensitive nipples, running his tongue down the centre of Keith’s stomach.

Unbuttoning Keith’s jeans, Lance began to tug the skin-tight denim down his legs. Keith let out a sigh of relief when his straining erection was released, he grinned as Lance struggled to get the material past his thighs.  
“Why do you insist on waring such tight clothes,” Lance grunted, managing to pull them too his knees.  
“Because you like staring at my ass in them,” Keith smirked.  
Lance shrugged, like you’ve got me there. Finally, he wrenched them off Keith’s legs, whooping. Keith shook his head, sitting up to undo Lance’s jeans.  
“Come on then,” he mumbled.  
Lance pulled his own jeans off with no problem, growling lightly and pouncing, flattening Keith back on the bed. Keith laughed, before moaning as he pressed their lips together again. Slick was starting to ooze out of his hole, dampening his boxers.

Both their boxers were removed, leaving them both completely naked. Keith glanced down, swallowing slightly. He’d only ever slept with betas before, partly because he’d never found an alpha he wanted to sleep with and partly because outside of his heats he was an under-producer of slick. Lance was, bigger than anyone he’d slept with before. Keith was snapped out of his thoughts though when Lance stroked his cock.  
“You alright?” he asked, leaning to speak in Keith’s ear.  
Keith swallowed, nodding. He was nervous, but he trusted Lance.

Lance’s fingers ran back, slipping behind Keith’s balls to rub lightly at his aching hole. Keith gasped, twitching lightly.  
“Yes,” Keith groaned.  
  Lance hummed, slipping a finger inside. Keith sighed, spreading his legs even more. Keith’s eyes were closed, so Lance’s fingers suddenly slipping out came as a surprise.  
“Lance?”  
“Just, hang on a second,” Lance said, leaning up.  
Rifling through his bedside draw, Lance suddenly sat back on his heels. A bottle of lube and a condom in his hand.  
“You noticed then?” Keith muttered, turning away.  
Lance ran his clean hand up the inside of Keith’s thigh, causing the other man to shudder. He then pinched it, causing him to turn and glower.  
“I dated an omega a few years ago with the same thing,” Lance said, coating his fingers in lube, “No big deal, one of us just has to remember lube.”  
Keith scoffed, aiming a kick at Lance’s side. Lance stuck his tongue out, slipping his finger in again. Keith groaned.  
“Well get on with it then.”

A second finger was slipped in, the two of them stretching and searching until Keith yelled when Lance found his prostate. It didn’t take much longer for him to push in a third, all of them working together seemingly to bring Keith as much pleasure as possible. Lance’s warm hand was rubbing up and down his thigh, gently smoothing over the soft skin.

Keith hissed as Lance removed his fingers, tilting his head back. Lance caged him in with his arms, leaning down to press their lips together.  
“Hurry up,” Keith hissed as he pulled away.  
“Impatient,” Lance said brightly.  
Keith grumbled, hooking his legs around Lance’s waist, pulling his hips down. Lance chuckled, grabbing the base of his cock to guide it into Keith.  
“Ready?” Lance asked.  
Keith nodded, “Yeah.”

Lance pushed forward, pressing into Keith with a smooth roll of his hips. He pushed half way in and they had to pause, Keith letting out short huffs of breath. When his body relaxed and Keith nodded, Lance thrust forward, burying himself all the way in. Keith took several deep breaths, trying to get used to the feeling of being so full. He grasped Lance’s bicep, eyes unintentionally slipping closed as he relaxed into the bed. He felt Lance run a thumb over his cheek, hands running through his hair to push sweaty black strands away from his face. He forced his eyes back open, staring up into Lance’s face. He nodded.

Keith was gone, mind flooded with pleasure. He didn’t know what sort of noises he was making, but they were probably embarrassing ones. Lance was groaning, hips snapping forward fast and deep. Lance shifted the angle of his hips slightly and Keith’s entire body lit up.  
“Yes, faster,” he whimpered.  
Lance grunted in acknowledgement.  
“Keith, I’m close,” he muttered.  
“Me, too,” Keith panted.  
Lance slipped his hand down, wrapping his hand around Keith’s dick. It didn’t take much longer than that. He came, hard and with a half-scream. Lance gave a few more powerful thrusts before spilling with a groan of Keith’s name.

****

Keith hummed happily, burying his face into the pillow he was laid on. It was still saturated with the combined scents of him, Lance and sex. A purr rumbled in his chest, a much louder one than before. He blinked his eyes open, looking at the clock on the bedside table. He’d only been asleep for a couple of hours. It was dark, the only light coming in from the window. Turning his head to the other side, he spotted Lance’s silhouette by the window.

The other man was still completely naked, staring out of the window. Keith took a minute to appreciate the smooth skin and muscle of Lance’s back, following it down to his pert ass.  
“Everyone can see you naked,” Keith said, voice slightly distorted by his purring.  
“Well that’s just their treat isn’t it,” Lance replied, turning back to the bed.  
Keith propped himself up, wincing slightly.  
“I thought that was all for me,” he said, leaning forward.  
Lance hummed, crawling over the bed towards him.  
“All for you,” he muttered, pressing their lips together.  
Keith purred louder, pulling Lance down to lay beside him. Lance laughed, wrapping Keith tightly in a hug.

They lay like that for a little while, Keith buried comfortably in Lance’s neck. He began to doze off, purring quieting as he began to drift off.  
“Night kitten,” Keith just managed to catch before he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh...this chapter took so long...
> 
> One of two things happened at the end of this chapter...either Keith texted Shiro before spending time with Lance saying he wouldn't be home...to which he received several innuendo-heavy messages...or he didn't and got many panicked ones and about 26 phone calls  
> Whichever option you prefer...
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and you didn't get tired of the wait! I'm finally using that E rating...


	6. Boyfriend III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something strange is discovered in regards to voltron and Lance and Keith spend their first heat together.

“Keith! Ow!”  
“Lance, wa? Oh shit, sorry.”  
“Jesus, do you have to do karate in bed!”  
“I said I was sorry.”  
“I think you took my eye out.”  
“Don’t be such a baby, let me see,” Keith said, pulling Lance’s arm away from his face.  
There wasn’t anything wrong with Lance’s eye, although Keith did feel bad for accidentally hitting it. He just wasn’t used to sharing a bed. Leaning over, he pressed a gentle kiss to the lid.  
“Better?”  
“Maybe,” Lance grumbled, pouting lightly.  
With a sigh, Keith lent down and pressed their lips together.  
“That’s better,” Lance beamed.  
He wrapped his arms around Keith, rolling them over so he was pinning the omega to the bed. Keith laughed as Lance buried his face in his neck, curling one of his arms around Lance’s shoulders.

It was strange what time did to their relationship. Keith hadn’t known he could be this comfortable with another person, or just how happy Lance could make him. They’d been dating for almost half a year now, Keith honestly hadn’t thought it would last this long. They’d argued, quite explosively sometimes, but there were still there, still together. Keith squeezed Lance close, nuzzling the top of his head.

“Mmm, you smell good,” Lance muttered.  
Keith smiled, rubbing his shoulder blade.  
“I need to go,” Keith said.  
“No,” Lance said, squeezing him tighter.  
“I need to go home, I can’t keep wearing your clothes,” Keith muttered, wriggling slightly.  
“You can,” Lance replied, “Or you could just not wear anything at all, I wouldn’t mind.”  
Keith snorted, reaching down to pinch Lance’s side. The alpha pouted, completely koalaing Keith up in his limbs. Keith’s cheeks were hurting with how much he was smiling, chest shaking with laughter.  
“Lance, I have to go,” he groaned through his laughter.  
“No!” Lance winged again.  
Keith laughed, leaning down to press kisses against Lance’s face. Lance giggled, his arms loosening. That’s what Keith was waiting for. Squeezing Lance close one last time, Keith flipped their positions. Pressing a last kiss to Lance’s nose, he slipped out of the bed.

Keith didn’t even need to turn around to know that Lance was pouting. He grabbed his clothes off the back of the chair, rifling around Lance’s draws for some boxers.  
“Don’t I get a say in what clothes you borrow?” Lance asked from the bed.  
“No,” Keith replied, bulling the bright blue fabric up his legs.  
“You do look good in blue,” Lance said.  
Keith sighed, turning around to glare at him. Lance was splayed across the bed, looking like a cat that got the cream. The multitude of hickys decorating Keith’s neck and chest meant he couldn’t really protest that look. Lance smiled cheekily, stretching out to show of the muscles in his back. Keith realised he was staring, shaking his head he turned back to the task at hand.

Lance made no effort to move from the bed as Keith got dressed, although Keith could feel his eyes trying to burn a hole in his back. Opening the door to the bedroom, Keith stepped aside to allow Rad and Blue to bolt past, the two of them springing onto the bed. He turned to look at Lance, curled up in the bed, pouting, with the two cats.  
“I’ll see you later,” Keith said, smiling lightly.  
Lance smiled brightly, “See you, love you.”  
Keith flushed slightly, “Love you too.”

****

“Walk of shame!” two people shouted from the living room as Keith entered the apartment.  
He looked over to see Pidge and, a taller Pidge sat on the sofa.  
“Matt? When did you get back?” Keith asked, wandering over, “How was your trip?”  
“Now, we all know that’s not the most important thing that’s happened,” Matt said, leaning over the back of the sofa, “Tell me everything.”  
“No, I’m pretty sure your trip is a bigger deal than my love life,” Keith shook his head, “Besides I’m pretty sure Shiro is keeping you up to date.”  
“You know he’s useless,” Matt said.  
“Hey!” Shiro protested from the kitchen.  
“And after my last romantic liaison fell through,” Matt said, resting a hand on his chest.  
“You mean you struck out,” Pidge said.  
“I need to live vicariously through you,” Matt said.  
“Right,” Keith said, walking past him into the kitchen.  
“I will find out one way or another!” Matt shouted after him.  
“Why don’t you just ask Lance?” Pidge asked.  
“He said he won’t tell me,” Matt grumbled, “Not after last time.”  
Pidge snorted, “Oh yeah.”

**Lance:** DO NOT TELL MATT ANYTHING ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP

Matt spun a fantastical tale of his time away and Keith had no problem believing it. He didn’t know how Matt got into these unbelievable situations, it was probably only something you found out by hanging out with him. Keith did not want to get involved.  
“So then I woke up and found myself on a boat halfway across the ocean, dressed only in body paint, with no memory how I got there,” Matt continued his story of one wild night.  
Keith belatedly wonders how the hell Matt’s survived all these years as he listens.

They were all practically rolling on the floor with laughter by the end, Keith’s ribs were aching.  
“And so I was chased out of town and told never to return,” Matt finished, “Not my fault.”  
“It was completely your fault,” Shiro said, chortling.  
Pidge was hiccupping with laughter, tears running down her face.  
“So, now I’ve told you everything about my trip, Keith,” Matt said, leaning on his elbow.  
“No way,” Keith shook his head.  
“Awh! Why not?” Matt wined.  
“Because Lance told me not too,” Keith shrugged.  
“And you’re just going to let him tell you want to do!”  
“This time? Yes, it was all caps, very serious,” Keith nodded.  
“Lance lives in all caps, come on Keith!” Matt wined, kicking his legs.  
“No.”  
“You’re just being cruel now,” Matt pouted, crossing his arms.  
“Still not going to tell you.”  
“Damn it!”

****

“What’s taking so long?” Lance grumbled, biting his lip.  
“Full blown investigations take time Lance,” Hunk said, reaching out to pat Lance on the shoulder.  
“I know,” Lance said, tucking his knees to his chest, curling up on the chair.  
“Don’t worry,” Hunk said, pulling Lance into a hug, “They haven’t hacked into anything.”  
Lance muttered something into Hunk’s shoulder, still looking miserable. Keith moved around the desk, resting his hand on Lance’s shoulder and pressing a kiss to the nape of his neck. Lance reached out, curling his arm around Keith and pulling him into a hug, squished between Lance and Hunk. It was not the worst place to be.

They’d gone into work that morning to something on Pidge’s computer. It was a message from someone apparently in another society that helps out people. The problem was, their computers were supposed to be completely secure. If they got in to leave a message, who knows what other information they may have managed to obtain. It had everyone massively on edge.

Working with one had was very difficult, but Keith was not going to let go of Lance’s any time soon. The alpha needed the comfort, every minute making him more and more anxious.  
“Nothing, they didn’t hack into anything else,” Pidge said suddenly, slamming some folders down on her desk.  
Lace visibly relaxed, spine loosening instantly.  
“Don’t worry,” Pidge said seriously, “I will double and triple up the security, I’m going to bury it so deep, even I won’t be able to hack into it!”

Allura strode in a few minutes later, looking slightly more frazzled than she was yesterday. She clapped her hands, instantly getting everyone’s attention.  
“Ok, so it appears we may have some new allies in our fight to help the innocent. They call themselves the blade of marmora and one of their members helped a couple of people in our team out on one of their missions. Be that as it may, I wish for us to proceed with caution, we do not know these people and we do not wish to fall into a trap, so please, everyone, be careful. That is all, you may return to your work.”

****

“And that’s when she decides to tell me she has a boyfriend,” Matt said.  
Lance groaned, shaking his head.  
“Oh god,” Shiro groaned, burying his face in his hands.  
“So this huge alpha comes marching over, and I think, please god don’t let this be her boyfriend,” Matt continued.  
“That’s when she called him honey,” Lance said, leaning deeper into Keith’s chest.  
“So I’m thinking, well, this is how I die and Lance, being the amazing friend he is, is texting my sister and telling her what is happening,” Matt grumbled.  
“No, I’ll have you know I was texting her about you striking gout with a woman long before the boyfriend walked over,” Lance corrected, grinning.  
“Shouldn’t you have been able to smell the alpha on her?” Shiro said.  
“With people packed that close together? We couldn’t smell anything,” Lance shrugged.  
“So anyway, he comes marching over. All puffed up and angry,” Matt said, gesturing idly, “And then he…seems to decide that Lance was the bigger threat.”  
“What?” Keith snorted.

“So this guy turns to me, and I’m looking at him and wondering what the hell was going on,” Lance continued the story, “And he was like, you hitting on my woman? And I was still very confused so answered, no?”  
“And then he said, you don’t sound so sure,” Matt took over, “So he grabs the front of Lance’s shirt.”  
“What?” Shiro said, astounded.  
“Apparently because I’m an alpha and Matt is just a beta, no offense buddy,” Lance said.  
“None taken.”  
“I was the bigger threat, even though I wasn’t hitting on her.”  
“Anyway, so he grabs the front of Lance’s shirt and is like, you’re standing awfully close,” Matt said, “Even though we were in a packed bar with everyone stood very close together and I was stood between him and her.”

“So, I diffuse the situation calmly,” Lance said, nodding.  
Matt snorted, before bursting into laughter.  
“Ok, so I say well the bar is packed, everyone is stood close together,” Lance shrugged.  
Keith squeezed him slightly, arms wrapped around his waist.  
“Does this story end with you getting punched by any chance?”  
“How did you know?”  
Pidge snorted, “Come on, tell us the rest of the story.”

****

Keith hated going to the doctors, being poked and prodded and asked a lot of uncomfortable questions. If he wanted suppressants though, he didn’t have much of a choice. At the very least, now Coran was his doctor, the more annoying questions were not asked. His favourites, such as well what does your alpha want? What would your alpha think? Shouldn’t we transfer you onto different suppressants, after all you’ll want to be mated and have pups soon. It was a miracle someone didn’t get punched at those appointments.

Coran was humming, looking at the charts from Keith’s blood test. He frowned, twiddling his moustache. Keith sighed, looking down at his hands.  
“I think you know what I’m going to say,” Coran said.  
Keith nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been keeping track of the time.”  
“Then I won’t offend you by explaining, do you have any questions?”  
“No, it’s fine,” Keith sighed, leaning back on his hands.  
“Alright,” Coran said, “Well let me know if you need anything else, I hear heats are better with an alpha so you’ll probably be wanting…”  
“Thank you Coran, I will let you know if I need anything,” Keith said, hurriedly jumping off the bed.

Every one or two years, depending on the omega, they had to go through a heat. Keith considered himself one of the lucky ones, he only needed to go through a heat every two years. Unfortunately, the heats he had had, were rough. It was common knowledge that heats were better with someone else, particularly if that person was an alpha. Although he’d been keeping track of the dates, predicting when he’d next have to have a heat, Keith hadn’t really thought what he was going to do.

****

Keith blinked and snapped to attention as Lance tugged his hair.  
“What?” he muttered.  
“Something’s on your mind,” Lance said, tugging on Keith’s overlarge jumper.  
Keith allowed himself to be tugged to rest on Lance’s chest, their legs tangled together under a blanket.  
“I’m just thinking,” Keith said, snuggling close.  
Lance hummed, smoothing a thumb between his eyebrows.  
“Well stop, you only get that expression when you’re thinking of something bad,” Lance said.  
Keith smiled lightly, Lance could be so sweet sometimes.  
“You look constipated.”  
Keith’s face dropped, he honestly didn’t know what he was expecting. He jabbed Lance in the ribs, rolling over so he was facing away.  
“Keith,” Lance said, drawing out the vowels.  
Keith tucked himself closer in Lance’s arms, humming.  
“Love you,” Lance whispered.  
“Love you too,” Keith mumbled back.

A movie later, Lance stretched behind him.  
“I should go home,” he said.  
Keith flipped over, wrapping his arms tightly around Lance.  
“I need to tell you something,” he said.  
“Alright,” Lance said, rubbing his back.  
“I went in for a check-up today and I need to come off my suppressants,” Keith said, keeping his eyes on Lance’s chest.  
Keith tried to detect any change in Lance’s scent, but the alpha seemed to be keeping it under complete control. Lance squeezed him close, nosing gently at Keith’s hair.  
“What do you want to do about it?” he asked.  
Keith nuzzled into his chest, humming softly.  
“I don’t know,” he mumbled.

Lance slid his hand up to knot in Keith’s hair, smoothing through the strands.  
“Well, do you want me there with you?” Lance asked.  
Keith didn’t even need to think before nodding.  
“Ok then, do you want me in the room with you?” Lance said, sliding warm hands up Keith’s shirt.  
Keith hesitated at this, twisting his fingers in Lance’s shirt. He knew heats were unpleasant, there had been a lot of alphas in the police force. He’d overheard a lot of them complaining about the parts of omega’s heats that didn’t involve sex, so basically the actual caring for their mate bit. But he had to remember, this was Lance, his Lance. His stupid lovely caring alpha that would probably walk through fire if it would make Keith happy.  
“Yes,” Keith said firmly, “I want you there with me, in my nest, I want to spend my heat with you.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes.”  
“Ok,” Lance smiled, “One more question, do you want me to knot you.?”  
Keith punched him in the arm, “Lance!”  
“What? What?” Lance laughed, “It’s a serious question!”

****

Lance had a ridiculous number of fluffy blankets and pillows in his apartment, along with the things he’d brought from his and Shiro’s apartment, Keith had a lot of things to build a nest with. Keith had decided it would be better to nest in Lance’s place, he didn’t want to uproot Shiro. When his preheat had hit and he made his way over to Lance’s, it was clear he had made the right decision. He’d spent so much time here, the bedroom was saturated with their scents. It really helped after his ride over, his extra sensitive nose making him feel sick and exposed while out on the streets. It also didn’t help that he could see all the alphas he passed leering at him, his own scent screaming sex.

Keith was quite proud of his nest building skills, although he hadn’t had many, or any, omega influences and had not gone through many heats, he had a lot of practice. It wasn’t until he sat down and thought about it, did he realise that he’d been building nests for comfort ever since his father had died. A soft covering on the bottom of the nest, walls around the edge constructed from blankets and pillows. Lance’s clothes up around where his head would be.

“Lance,” Keith called, leaning out the door.  
He was a little nervous, desperate for his alpha to approve of the nest. It didn’t help that his pre-heat was making him nervous and jittery. Lance walked over from the living room, Keith tilted his head to one side. Hunk had been here not too long ago.  
“Hunk came to pick up the cats,” Lance explained softly.  
Keith nodded, grabbing Lance’s hand, tugging him into the bedroom.

Lance’s eyes scanned over the nest, flicking over the soft blankets and pillows, to the box of preserved food by the bed.  
“Looks amazing,” Lance said, smiling at Keith.  
Keith let out a sigh of relief, leaning against Lance’s side. He burled his face in Lance’s neck, closing his eyes and allowing the alpha’s scent to calm him down a little. Lance rubbed up and down his arms, humming lightly.  
“How’re you feeling?”  
“Rough,” Keith muttered back, “I hate preheat.”  
Lance nodded, massaging Keith back, slipping down to his hips to help ease the constant ache that had settled there a few days ago. Keith slumped against him, closing his eyes and snuggling close. Although his scent screamed sex during his preheat, there was no way in hell he would let anyone have sex with him like this, he honestly felt like complete shit.  
“What do you want to do?” Lance asked softly.  
“I’m tired,” Keith mumbled.  
“Nap?”  
Keith nodded.

The two of them clambered into the nest, Keith first, followed by Lance. They were careful not to disturb the blankets as they settled, Keith pretty much splaying over Lance’s chest. His hips hurt like hell, and he was feeling a bit iffy and everything felt sore. Lance pulled him close, massaging his hips again.  
“How long do you think it will be?” Lance asked softly.  
“Tonight,” Keith said.  
“Alright then,” Lance said, kissing his forehead, “Get some sleep alright?”  
Keith hummed, curling up a little. Closing his eyes, he allowed the soft rise and fall of Lance’s chest to lull him to sleep.

****

Keith woke up slowly, sweat sticking his loose shirt to his skin. He groaned, burying his face into Lance’s neck. It didn’t help this time, in fact it made heat spike in his stomach, cock hardening almost instantly. Damn it. He whined, rutting up against Lance’s leg. The alpha was still asleep and even though Keith’s body was screaming at him to wake Lance up, let the alpha thoroughly fuck and knot him. He hadn’t completely lost him mind though, Lance needed as much sleep as he could get before Keith’s heat really hit.

Grasping the soft material of Lance’s sleep shirt, Keith ground his hips forward. He was far too warm, his shirt was starting to stick to his chest. Precum and slick were starting to soak his boxers. It didn’t take much longer for him to cum, shuddering slightly. It hardly helped.

A warm hand landed on his hip, curling around and rubbing the soft skin with a thumb. Keith wined, shuddering slightly.  
“Starting without me?” Lance hummed lightly.  
Lance’s hand slipped down Keith’s hip, slipping back to grope his ass.  
“Didn’t want to bother you,” Keith gasped, “Yet.”  
Lance hummed, “You know I don’t mind, mmm, you smell so good.”  
Keith shuddered slightly, “ ‘m too hot.”  
“You want your shirt off?” Lance asked, “And your boxers?”  
Keith nodded, “You too?”  
Lance smiled, “Of course.”

Lance tugged Keith’s shirt and boxers off, tugging his own clothes off after. The slight relief of cold air on his skin was short lived, as warmth crashed into him releasing a fresh wave of slick out of his hole. He groaned, shuffling forward to rest against Lance’s bare chest. The skin on skin contact felt good. Lance ran his fingers through Keith’s hair, tugging it slightly before tying it up.  
“There, that’s better,” Lance hummed, pushing the rest of Keith’s hair away from his face.  
Keith groaned, eyes flicking over Lance’s face, before shifting down to his cock. He let out a long breath, staring at the impressive length. Keith’s heat scent had begun to trigger Lance’s rut, causing his cock to swell bigger than normal. Keith wanted that inside him as quickly as possible.  
“Lance, please.”  
“Ok,” Lance said softly, “I’ve gotchu.”

Lance rolled him over, sliding his hands under Keith’s hips to lift them up.  
“Lance, please, fuck me,” he wined, shaking his hips.  
“Not yet,” Lance said, “I won’t be able to keep up with you if we fuck now.”  
Keith squeezed his eyes closed, trying to focus on calming his breathing and not the arousal burning in his got.  
“Just relax,” Lance said softly, squeezing Keith’s thigh just below his ass.  
Keith yelped, jerking forward as Lance’s tongue prodded at his hole. He relaxed as Lance continued, lapping around his rim, tasting the slick that had collected there. Keith whimpered into the material in the nest, moaning as Lance finally breached. He moaned and yelped as Lance ate him out, legs shaking with pleasure. Keith yelled as Lance pressed his tongue in as deep as it would go. His lips pressed against Keith’s rim, Lance hummed. That did it, the vibration against his sensitive rim. Keith came with a rush of slick.

Keith whimpered as he came down from his high, cock still painfully hard and rim throbbing with need. Lance pulled away, replacing his mouth with a finger.  
“You alright?” he asked.  
Keith nodded, tilting his head to one side.  
“More,” he said, planting his knees further apart.  
“One more time Kitten,” Lance said, rubbing the base of Keith’s spine, “cum one more time and I’ll fuck you.”  
Keith groaned, nodding and pushing back against Lance’s finger.  
“Well come on then.”  
Lance laughed, slipping in a second finger.  
“Alright Mr impatient,” he said, twisting and scissoring his fingers.  
“Lance,” Keith growled out a warning.  
“Ok, ok,” Lance soothed, massaging Keith’s back as he slipped in a third.

Keith pressed back against Lance’s probing fingers, moaning as Lance found his prostate. The stretch felt so good, but just not enough. Lance slipped in a fourth finger, diving into Keith’s prostate with every thrust of his fingers. Lance spread his fingers, pressing one insistently on Keith’s prostate. He came again with a whimper, legs shaking so bad he could barely support himself.  
“Lance,” he cried softly.  
“Yeah, I know,” Lance said, removing his fingers.

Lance pressed inside, sliding into Keith’s loosened and slick hole with ease. Vaguely in the back of his mind, Keith registered that it should hurt. Lance wasn’t small to begin with and with the added girth and length from his rut, Keith shouldn’t be able to take it all at once. During his heat though, something much bigger than an alpha’s cock needed to be shoved up his ass for him to feel pain.

Keith moaned, arching his back as Lance bottomed out. He was probably making some horribly embarrassing whimpering sounds, his hips jerking slightly. Pleasure was rocketing through his body, seeming to light up every nerve ending. Then Lance started thrusting and Keith was lost in pleasure.

Keith wasn’t really aware of anything anymore, just the stretch of a tick cock inside him and the pleasure it was giving him. He knew he was crying out, yelling and moaning out Lance’s name. Lance’s hand dipped beneath Keith’s body, grasping his painful erection. Keith came explosively, all over Lance’s hand and the base of the nest. He whimpered softly as Lance continued to fuck him.  
“Please, alpha,” Keith said softly, “Knot me.”  
Lance growled, a deep primal sound that sent a shiver down Keith’s spine. He pressed in as deep as possible, pressing the enlarged base inside. Keith moaned as Lance’s knot began to swell, locking them together. Keith came again as Lance’s knot became too big to pull out as the alpha came seep inside Keith.

Keith slowly came down from his heat-induced high, finally feeling the pain from being stretched around an alpha’s knot.  
“Ow,” he groaned.  
Lance grunted, curling his arms around Keith to pull him as close as possible, taking the pressure off his entrance.  
“You alright?” he asked.  
“Hurts,” Keith muttered.  
“Yeah, sorry, it’ll go down in a bit,” Lance replied, rubbing up and down Keith’s chest.  
“Will it now,” Keith said sarcastically, wriggling slightly, “Never would have guessed.”  
Lance moaned, hips jolting forward slightly.  
“Rude,” Lance said, huffing.  
Keith hummed happily, closing his eyes.  
“I’m going to take a nap now,” he said.  
A soft kiss to his shoulder blade.  
“Ok, get some rest,” Lance said.  
“I will.”

****

Keith didn’t expect his first heat with Lance to be perfect and it wasn’t. Lance did accidentally upset him in his heightened emotional state, so Keith threatened to kick him out of the nest then spiralled into a panic when Lance moved a little, thinking he would actually be left alone. They had to have a long recovery snuggle after that. In all honesty though, it was so much better than every heat he’d spent alone.

Keith lent against Lance for support as the water from the shower pounded down on them. His ass was killing him, but the rest of him was incredibly relaxed and satisfied. He was purring almost constantly, the sound echoing around every room he was in. Lance lent down, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  
“Love you.”  
Keith smiled and hummed, “Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was supposed to have this out Wednesday...but I was baking for my dad birthday which was on Thursday so here we are on Friday and I finally got it done!
> 
> I also finally got a Tumblr account (About time) so hit me up on it if you're interested...[whitehorsetiger](http://whitehorsetiger.tumblr.com) because I only have one creative username in me and I want to use it as much as possible...
> 
> So anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for your continued support


	7. Mate I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance move in together and Keith had a realisation. However, something happens to throw him through a loop.

Keith jumped as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, almost splattering eggs all over the counter. Lance laughed against Keith’s back, squeezing him lightly.  
“If I’d have known I’d be getting breakfast, I would’ve asked you to move in sooner,” Lance hummed.  
“Who said any of this is for you?” Keith asked back, gently elbowing Lance.  
“You can’t possibly eat all that on your own,” Lance said, resting his chin on Keith shoulder, “Please don’t try to prove me wrong.”  
Keith hummed, before he decided to let it go. Moving over to the cooker, he tipped half the eggs into the preheated pan with a hiss. Red was balanced on a stack of Keith’s boxes, meowing at them. There was a muffled meow from deeper in the apartment. Lance laughed, stepping away from Keith to go find Blue. Keith immediately missed his warmth.

“How do you have so much stuff?” Lance asked, “It’s like a maze in here.”  
“Some maze, you can see right over it,” Keith shrugged.  
“Where’s the fun in that?” Lance replied brightly, “Blue? Blue? Where are you?”  
There was a muffled meow.  
“Marco,” Lance called.  
Another muffled meow.  
“Marco.”  
Keith rolled his eyes, returning his attention to the omelette.  
“How on earth did you get in there!?”  
Keith sighed, turning down the burner to go find Lance.

Blue had, somehow, managed to break into one of Keith’s boxes. She was curled up in one of his pans, meowing at them. Keith returned to the eggs, rolling his eyes as Lance baby-talked Blue.  
“Such a cleaver girl aren’t you, yes, who’s my clever girl,” Lance cooed, making his way over.  
Keith snorted, shaking his head.  
“Aww Keef, you wov her,” Lance said, wriggling Blue’s paw.  
Keith dumped the omelette out on a plate.  
“Here you looser,” he said, placing it on the breakfast bar.  
“Love you too,” Lance grinned, putting Blue down.

****

Having sex on, or against every surface of the apartment wasn’t what they’d planned when they’d moved in together, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t though. It wasn’t just the fact they had to deep-clean the entire apartment before anyone would come over again, it was curling up on the sofa with a movie, it was going home to kisses and cuddles, it was curling up under the covers together if one of them had a bad day.

It was one of those rare times that they both had a day off, Keith was determined for them to make the most of it. He was going to romance the pants off Lance and reduce him to a stuttering blushing mess, one of his favourite things to do.

It had not gotten off to the best start. It was a startling realisation that Lance suffered from horrifying nightmares, this that left him screaming and crying, unable to sleep. He’d woken up at around one in the morning, jolting Keith awake in a panic as he screamed and sobbed. Wrapping his arms around the alpha, Keith tugged him down, letting Lance bury his face into his neck. Making his scent as relaxing as possible, Keith did his best to comfort him. Comforting people was not Keith’s strong suit, but he did the best he could. Running his fingers through Lance’s hair and laying them back down.

It took a long time for Lance to get back to sleep, curled up in Keith’s arms with his head pressed against his chest. Keith didn’t really get back to sleep, drifting in and out for the next few hours. He finally gave up on sleeping, instead humming softly scratching at Lance’s scalp. Normally, when he woke up, Keith was raring to go. He needed to get up and do something, which was why him and Shiro tended to go jogging in the mornings. Now though, he was happy to lay in bed, Lance warm in his arms.

Lance hummed softly, nosing lightly into Keith’s neck.  
“Keith?” he mumbled.  
“Yeah?” Keith whispered back, “You awake?”  
Lance stretched, blinking his eyes open.   
“Mmm, so warm,” he said.   
Keith chuckled, pressing a warm kiss to his temple. He then tried to extract himself from the octopus-hold Lance had on him, but Lance simply tightened his hold.  
“Come on,” Keith said, trying to peel Lance off him, “I’m going to make you breakfast in bed.”  
Lance froze, “What did you do?”  
“Hey, why are you assuming I did anything?” Keith protested, kicking him lightly.  
“Because you’re making me breakfast in bed,” Lance said, “You never do that.”  
“Well I’m going to romance the crap out of you today,” Keith said very seriously.  
Lance laughed, finally releasing Keith from his hold.  
“Only you would say that and make it sound like a threat,” he said, snuggling down into the covers.

****

Keith did like the aquarium, there was something about watching the fish swimming around. The main reason he went though, was the look of sheer joy on Lance’s face as he darted around like a child. Keith followed behind, smiling at the wide-eye excitement on his boyfriend’s face. Many of their dates had been to the aquarium, it wasn’t too expensive and both of them enjoyed their time there.

“Keith! Keith! Look at this!” Lance said brightly, running over to the ray tank.   
Keith shook his head, tucking his hands in his pockets. Lance was leaning over the tank, watching them glide over the sand at the bottom. Sliding up beside him, Keith lent against Lance’s side, linking their arms.  
“They’re so elegant,” Lance hummed happily.  
“You say that every time,” Keith chuckled.  
“That’s because they are! Look at them Keith! They’re so cool!”  
“I’m looking, but I thought you liked the sharks the best?”  
“I do! Besides, they’re related! I’m allowed to like two things!”  
Keith laughed, resting his head on Lance’s shoulder.

The biggest, and Lance’s favourite, attraction was the huge salt water tank and the glass tunnel. He could spend hours there, watching the sharks drift overhead. His face was cast in a blue glow from the tanks, lent with his face almost pressed against the glass. Keith watched from the other side of the tunnel, following a few of the fish as they flicked overhead, most of his attention was on Lance though.

It wasn’t until later, when they were in the gift shop, that Keith realised something. Lance was looking at all the keyrings, trying to decide which one he wanted. He really didn’t need to sift through them all, Keith knew he’d pick the pufferfish one. He didn’t want to rush him though. His lovely dorky alpha. Absently, he rubbed the back of his neck, where the bond bite would be. Keith stiffened, eyes wide he froze. He didn’t tend to touch the back of his neck, the gland there was a bit sensitive, even outside of his heats. Dropping his hand, Keith clenched his fist in his shirt. It hit him suddenly, causing his breath to hitch. He wanted to bond with Lance, Keith wanted to be his mate.

****

 They went to Lance’s favourite pizza place after that before heading back home. Keith got exactly what he wanted, Lance was a flustered and pleased mess. He also got something he didn’t really want, the knowledge that he wanted to be Lance’s mate. It wasn’t exactly an unusual for an omega to want to be an alpha’s mate, or for an alpha to want an omega as their mate. It was just, not something Keith had ever thought he would want, or have the chance to want it.

“Keith, pass me the, ah, thank you,” Lance said, pressing a kiss to Keith’s forehead.  
Keith hummed in affirmation, nuzzling into Lance’s scent gland.  
“You alright?” Lance asked softly, squeezing Keith’s hip.  
Keith blinked, shaking his head a little.  
“Yeah, sorry, I’m just thinking,” he said.  
Lance frowned, smoothing his thumb between Keith’s eyebrows.   
“Want to talk about it?”  
“No, no, it’s alright, just trying to work something out,” Keith replied, knocking their hips together.  
Lance smiled softly, “Alright, just remember I’m here.”  
“Don’t worry,” Keith said, “I’m just figuring some stuff out.”

By the time they’d gone to bed, Keith still wasn’t sure what he wanted. A mating bond was a permanent thing, an omega could only ever have one in their life. Should their relationship with their bonded alpha end, it was pretty much guaranteed they wouldn’t ever have another relationship due to social stigma, and every heat without their bonded alpha would be hell. Sliding under the covers, Keith snuggled to Lance’s chest. It was still a long time until he’d be forced to have a heat again anyway, there was still time.

****

The blades were very different from Voltron, they learnt that very quickly. No one knew who all the members were, most of them were undercover in the rich alpha families, all of them had basically cut themselves off from the outside world. There also wasn’t much trust between the two teams yet, both sides saying they needed to work together more before anything else was revealed. It could be a little frustrating sometimes and Allura was probably the least happy about this development. They provided invaluable information though, their asses had been saved a few times with information from the blades.

“Keith,” Pidge said, “You hovering, not helping.”  
“Sorry,” Keith muttered, but made no attempt to move.  
Pidge rolled her eyes, returning to her computer and the coms.  
“Ok guys, there should be a door coming up on your left and Lance, tell your boyfriend to leave me alone,” she said.  
“Awh! Leave him alone, he’s just worried,” Lance’s voice cooed.  
Leaning over, Keith hit the button to talk to Lance.  
“Pay attention to the mission,” he said.  
Lance laughed softly, “I’ve got this, don’t worry.”  
Keith scoffed, “I’ll worry if I want to.”  
“Keith will worry about what?” Shiro asked, stepping into the room.  
“He’s worried about his boyfriend,” Pidge mocked.  
“Shut up,” Keith said.  
“Awh,” Shiro said at the same time.  
Keith glared at him.  
“Get him to leave,” Pidge said, wafting her hand.  
“Come on Keith, let’s go do something,” Shiro said, resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder.  
“Wow, something, that makes me want to leave,” Keith said sarcastically, but allowed Shiro to lead him out.

The two of them settled in the break room, Shiro putting on a random action movie. They settled back into the blankets, Keith unconsciously bundling himself up.  
“You know he’s going to be alright,” Shiro said.  
“I know, he can handle himself, won’t stop me though,” Keith muttered, pulling a blanket tighter over his shoulders.  
Shiro cooed, Keith punched him in the arm.  
“Come on, I think its sweet,” Shiro laughed, ruffling Keith’s hair.  
Keith slapped his hands away, kicking out to jab Shiro in the chest with his foot.  
“Go get your own relationship! Quit leeching off mine!”   
“Never!”  
Keith grabbed a pillow, whacking Shiro in the face. Shiro grabbed it, wrestling the pillow off him to hit Keith repeatedly over the head. Keith covered his head with his arms, laughing.

The two of them settled down to watch the movie, it was a bit drab and predictable, but it kept Keith’s mind off Lance being on a mission. He also spent time being jabbed in the ribs by Shiro as he made comments on the movie.  
“Well that would’ve been a good movie,” Shiro said, shooting Keith the stink eye.  
“No, it wouldn’t have been,” Keith shrugged.  
“Besides you should know the risk in watching a movie with him,” a familiar voice said from the doorway.  
Keith glanced up, there was Lance lent in the doorway. He looked none the worse for wear, only a patch on his cheek.  
“Hey handsome,” he said, lips curling up into a smirk.  
“Lance,” Keith said, jumping to his feet, “Are you alright?”   
Lance smiled, opening his arms. Keith made his way over, wrapping his arms around Lance’s neck. Brushing his thumb over the plaster on Lance’s face, Keith pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw.  
“It’s just a scratch,” Lance said softly, “That’s the worst of it.”  
“Good,” Keith hummed.  
“Awh!” Hunk cooed.  
“I’m glad you’re ok,” Shiro said.  
“You two are gross,” Pidge added.

****

“You know he’s going to kill you,” Keith said, leaning on his desk.  
“Not if he never finds out,” Pidge replied, “I think a little more on the moustache.”  
“I think you’re right,” Lance nodded, “Beside, this is his punishment for falling asleep at work!”  
Keith snorted lightly, shaking his head. Both Lance and Pidge shushed him, despite them being louder. He rolled his eyes, returning to his paperwork. Shiro was fast asleep on his desk, the two of them taking advantage of this to draw on his face. So far he had a moustache, some round glasses and a unibrow.  
“You know he’s going to work out is was you two,” Hunk said, shaking his head, “No one else would have the guts to do that. Also you should draw a goatee.”  
“By the time he realised we’ll be far away,” Pidge said.  
“Living as hermits in the mountains,” Lance added.  
“But with good internet,” Pidge nodded.  
“Obviously.”

Shiro stirred at the noise, both Pidge and Lance freezing wide-eyed, looking about as guilty as they could.  
“I just remembered I have that thing,” Lance said, backing away.  
“Yes, I have to help him,” Pidge nodded.  
The two of them whipped around, sprinting from the room. Keith fought back his laugh, as Shiro woke up, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.  
“Did I fall asleep?” he said.  
“Yes,” Hunk said, clearly biting back laughter.  
Shiro frowned a little, looking over to Keith. He tried to keep a straight face, but Shiro looked so ridiculous he didn’t have a hope.  
“What happened?” Shiro asked, looking between the two of them.  
Hunk buried his face in his hands.  
“Nothing,” Keith said.  
Shiro hummed suspiciously, looking around his desk, his computer.  
“You look very pretty Shiro,” Keith said.  
That did it for Hunk, he snorted with laughter before dropping his head to the bench to laugh. Shiro grabbed his phone, using it to check his reflection. His eyes widened as he got a good look at himself, before slamming his phone on the desk. He glanced around, sniffing the air.  
“LANCE! PIDGE!” he shouted, chair scraping as he stalked after them.  
“Well, they’re dead,” Keith said absently.

Shiro stalked back in a while later, still with pen on his face with both Lance and Pidge collared. Both of them were clearly trying not to laugh and failing miserably.  
“Surely, you two have better things to do,” he said, practically lifting the two of them off their feet.  
Pidge shrugged as Lance made a doubtful noise, Shiro shaking his head.  
“Pidge I need you too, is this a bad time?” Allura swept up to the desk, freezing as she took in the sight in front of her.  
She snorted as she caught a glance of Shiro’s face, trying to cover it up with a cough.  
“Anyway,” she said, collecting herself, “Pidge, a coded message has come in from the blade and I need your help deciphering it.”  
“Alright,” Pidge nodded, wriggling out of Shiro’s grip.  
“This isn’t over,” he said as she followed Allura.  
Pidge turned around, sticking her tongue out as she left. Lance very carefully wriggled out of Shiro’s grasp, trying to sneak away. He didn’t get far as Shiro noticed his escape attempt, grabbing the back of his shirt to stop him getting any further away.  
“Where do you think you’re going?” he said, pulling Lance close to put him in a headlock.  
Shiro reached over for the pen on his desk.  
“No! No! Please Shiro! Have mercy!” Lance squeal-laughed.

“I warned you this would happen,” Keith said, ignoring his pouting boyfriend, “You wouldn’t listen.”  
“Keith!” Lance wined, “You’re so mean!”  
Lance’s face was now covered in very bad drawings and bits of writing, something he was none to pleased about.  
“You were warned, you could have not done it,” Keith said, trying not to laugh as Lance poked his cheek.  
“But he was right there, how could I have not?” Lance said, “Pidge was involved too!”  
“And I doubt Shiro would let her get away,” Keith rolled his eyes, “Believe me, you got off easy.”  
Lance huffed, turning his nose up into the air. Keith knew full well what he was doing and there was no way he was going to give in, no matter how adorable Lance was being.  
“Keith,” his saviour came in the form of Allura, “Would you come in here please?”  
“Sure,” Keith nodded, standing up.  
He pressed a quick kiss to Lance’s cheek before following Allura out of the room.

Keith stared, everything seeming to come crashing down around him.  
“Now, I know this may be a bit of a surprise,” Allura said.  
“I,” Keith said, “I don’t.”  
Pidge gestured to a chair, “Sit, you look like you’re going to pass out.”  
“I’m fine, I’m alright,” Keith said, crossing his arms.  
“Have some time to think about it and then let me know what you want to do,” Allura said, “We won’t rush you.”  
Keith nodded, “Alright, ok.”  
So, as it turned out, the mother who had abandoned him when he was too young to remember her was part of the blade. She also now wanted to get in contact with him. The question was, if Keith wanted to have anything to do with her. He had no idea if he did.

****

It was at times like this that Keith was incredibly glad he had Lance, the alpha had an incredible ability to ground him.  
“My mother is part of the blade, she wants to contact me,” he said the second they got home.  
Lance froze with his coat half off.  
“Oh,” Lance said, he slipped his coat off and kicked his shoes.  
Grabbing Keith’s hand, he pulled them both into the apartment. Lance pulled him over to the sofa, pushing him down and dumping red on his knee. He moved into the kitchen, making Keith a cup of tea before dropping to sit beside him. Wrapping his hands around the mug, Keith lent against Lance’s side. Lance’s arm wrapped around his waist, coming to rest on his hip.  
“So, what are you going to do?”

Lance knew all about what had happened to Keith, how his mother had left and everything after that.  
“What are you going to do?” he asked, squeezing Keith’s hip.  
“I don’t know,” Keith replied softly.   
“Are you going to meet her?” Lance asked.  
“I don’t know,” Keith muttered, burrowing closer into Lance’s arms.  
“Ok,” Lance said softly, rubbing up and down Keith’s side.  
Keith tucked his knees to his chest, looking into his cup.   
“Do you think I should talk to her?” he asked, looking up at Lance.  
Lance hummed, “Yes, I think you should, at the very least give yourself some closure.”  
Keith sighed, finishing off his tea and placing the cup on the coffee table. He lay back against Lance’s chest, pulling Lance’s arms around him to intertwine their fingers. Lance dropped a kiss on the top of his head.  
“I’ll think about it,” Keith said softly.  
Lance squeezed him closer.

****

Keith still wasn’t sure if he made the right decision, but Lance was right, he needed closure. They were meeting in Voltron headquarters, in one of the private rooms. Everyone seemed to want to nosey into his business, so he had been sure to deactivate the cameras and kick everyone out of the room. He sat on one of the comfy chairs, sinking into the soft cushion. He dropped his head and fiddled with his fingers, trying to tamper down his scent so upset was not permeating the room. The door opened and Keith glanced up, ready to usher whoever it was out of the room. A woman walked in, someone Keith had never seen before but seemed oddly familiar.  
“Keith?”

Keith was pretty sure he had sort circuited, frozen as he watched Krolia, his mother, sit down opposite him.  
“Hello Keith,” she said.  
“Hello,” he replied, not all that sure what to say.  
She didn’t seem all that sure what to say, fiddling with her fingers. The two of them were basically strangers.  
“You look so much like your father,” Krolia said.  
Keith flinched slightly, crossing his arms.  
“So I’ve heard,” he said.  
“He was an amazing man, I was very sorry to hear of his passing,” she continued.  
“Right.”  
“Keith, please.”  
Keith sighed, looking up at her.  
“I didn’t know whether or not I wanted to meet you, my boyfriend said I should, for closure. Now I’m here though, I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what I want to hear.”  
Krolia nodded, resting her fingertips together.  
“I can offer an explanation, if that is what you want,” she said.  
Keith hesitated, then nodded.

“I’m sorry, I know that doesn’t make it better but I am. I was caught on one of my missions and had to go into hiding, I wanted you to have as normal life as possible, so I left you,” she said.  
Keith looked away, staring at the opposite wall.  
“When I found out you were a part of Voltron, a part of this anyway,” Krolia said, “I just wanted to get to know you.”  
Keith let out a long breath, digging his nails into his arm. He was very conflicted and still not all that sure what to make of her, but at the very least he could try, at least a little.  
“I have an adopted brother, his name is Shiro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am, so sorry for the late update. Last week I was busy with work and moving back to uni after the Easter holidays. Hopefully I should get back on a regular schedule now.
> 
> I'm also not too sure about this chapter but I wanted to get it posted, so just, let me know what you think.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Ready for the next chapter!


	8. Mate II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance go to a fancy party hosted by Lance's parents and Keith comes to a decision on where their relationship is going.

“Are you sure you’ve got everything?” Lance asked, hovering nervously as Keith put his suitcase in the car.  
“For the sixth time, yes, I do, do you have everything?” Keith replied, leaning against the side of the car.  
Lance pursed his lips, staring at their stuff bundled in the car. Keith could practically hear Lance’s brain working as he thought about everything he had packed.  
“Come on,” Keith rolled his eyes, “Get in the car, we’ve got everything.”  
Lance let out a long breath, “Ok, but if we’ve forgotten anything.”  
“I’ll drive you into town to buy a new one ok?” Keith sighed.  
“Like you would know where we could get anything there,” Lance scoffed.  
“Then you could just go buy it, come on Lance, we need to go if we’re going to get to the hotel at a reasonable time,” Keith said, opening the car door.

He clambered in, clicking his seatbelt into place waiting about two minutes until Lance clambered in, grumbling. He started up the car and slowly pulled out of the carpark. Keith pinched his arm lightly.  
“Come on, we’re going to go see your family,” Keith smiled, “You were so excited yesterday.”  
“I am still, I’m just, nervous,” Lance said, gripping the wheel.  
“Aren’t I supposed to be the nervous one?” Keith laughed softly.   
Lance scoffed, “We’ve skyped, they already love you. It’s the mission and…”  
Lance trailed off, shaking his head. It seemed like he wasn’t going to finish the sentence.   
“And?” Keith tilted his head to one side.  
“Nothing,” Lance sighed, “It doesn’t matter.”  
Keith frowned, letting it go for now but there was no way he was going to let it slide forever.  
“I don’t see why you’re nervous for the mission,” Keith said, “You’ve always been good at blending in.”  
“Yeah, but this time is different,” Lance said.  
Keith let out a long breath, squeezing Lance’s thigh.  
“It’s going to be alright.”  
Lance hummed, drumming his fingers on the wheel.  
“Turn the radio on.”

****

Lance remained silent for almost an hour, Keith wondered if he’d upset the other man although he was starting to get the feeling it was not him. Without Lance’s incessant chatter, the car journey was awkward. Keith tried to filling the silence as best he could, talking about his most recent meeting with his mother. It was going surprisingly well, it was still a bit tentative but wasn’t as strange as before. Lance was listening, nodding along with his talking. Keith eventually ran out of things to say, his voice trailing off. Now only the radio was making any noise.

Eventually Lance did start talking, he was still avoiding what was wrong with him but at least he was talking and smiling again. Which was good, it was a long journey. About half way, they stopped for lunch and to switch over who was driving. Lance sang along to the radio, bobbing his head. Keith smiled and nodded along, laughing whenever Lance tried to hit the highest notes. They stopped over at a hotel for the night, curling up together under the covers.

****

“You can get out of the car you know,” Lance chuckled.  
“No, I can do this,” Keith said, leaning as far out of the car as was physically possible.  
Lance laughed, shaking his head. They’d made it to the front gates of the McClain family mansion by mid-afternoon. Lance was driving, so it was Keith’s responsibility to use the intercom. Unfortunately, or maybe intentionally, Lance had pulled up the car a bit too far away. Keith was determined to not get out of the car, mostly because Lance told him he couldn’t.  
“Even if you do reach it, they probably won’t be able to hear you,” Lance said.  
Keith huffed, “Couldn’t you just call them?”  
Lance shrugged, “Well yeah, but I like to see you suffer.”  
Keith punched him in the arm, causing Lance to yelp indignantly even as he laughed.

The house was unbelievably beautiful, tucked away in just as stunning grounds. Large trees lined the driveway up to the house, grassy fields behind them. Keith was pretty sure he could just about make out an orchard in the distance. The driveway curved around the front of the house, around a brightly coloured flowerbed. The mansion was large, spreading out over the grounds, it wasn’t particularly high. There were several carvings in the stonework, Keith could probably stand there all day and not see them all.

Rosa McClain was an interesting woman. Keith had only ever seen her through a screen, from Lance’s pictures and from video chatting with Lance’s family. Their jobs made it that they hadn’t had a chance to actually visit. Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. He slid out of the car after Lance, the alpha very rapidly wrapped in his mother’s arms. She was shorter than all her children, so Lance was dragged down as she threw her arms around his neck. She was speaking very rapidly in Spanish and, although Lance was teaching him some, Rosa was speaking a little too quickly for him to make out what she was saying.

“Ah! Keith!” she said brightly, spotting him as she released her son, “It’s good to finally meet you.”  
“You’ve met him before,” Lance said.  
Rosa huffed, whacking him in the stomach.  
“I mean in person,” she said, shaking her head.  
Keith couldn’t help the slight smile twitching up the corner of his mouth, or the slight noise he made when he was suddenly pulled into a hug. Tensing for second, Keith allowed himself to relax into the unexpected hug. It was warm.  
“Come one then,” she said brightly, releasing Keith, “The rest of the family is waiting.”

There were so many people, chattering as they stood around. Keith hadn’t even got a good look at the entrance hall and corridors before they were ushered forward into the living room. Immediately the two of them were hounded by practically everyone. Keith recognised Marco and Luis, perched over to the side with their wives. Then there were Lance’s cousins and their children, Lance’s nieces and nephews surrounding them. Keith edged closer to Lance, sliding their fingers together. Lance squeezed his hand, before pulling Keith deeper into the room.

****

Keith was exhausted, the drive coupled with all the people along with his first ever big family meal and Keith was ready to fall asleep on his feet. He tugged lightly on Lance’s sleeve, finally catching his attention.   
“We’re a bit tired from the journey, so I think we’ll be heading to bed,” Lance announced, tugging Keith to his feet.  
“Alright, you’re in your old room,” Rosa said.  
“Thanks, night everyone,” Lance smiled.  
A chorus of nights followed them out of the room, as Keith was led out of the room.  
“You didn’t have to leave, I’m sure someone else would’ve been able to show me the way,” Keith said, tugging his hand out of Lance’s.  
Lance hummed, wrapping his arm around Keith’s shoulder, nosing at Keith’s hair.  
“Nah, I’m feeling a bit sleepy myself,” Lance said, “I feel kind of icky too, could probably use a shower.”  
“Yeah, you stink,” Keith shrugged.  
“Keith,” Lance wined, “You’re so mean!”  
Keith snorted, shaking his head. There was the sharp scent of sweat, but underneath that was Lance’s alpha scent. He was incredibly happy and his scent was showing it, light, relaxed and unguarded. Keith would by lying if he said it didn’t turn him on a little.

They wove through the corridors, Keith probably having no chance of finding his way back out. Expensive pieces of art and statues decorated them, one of them probably worth more than all of Keith and Shiro’s possessions combined. Everything was so bright and homely.

“We’re here,” Lance grinned, nodding to a door.   
Keith wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but when he really thought about it, he wondered why it wasn’t this. The door was painted with all different shades of blue, with brightly coloured fish, sharks and dolphins. A wooden name plaque confirmed it was Lance’s room, not that he needed the clarification. Pushing open the door, Keith stepped into the room.

Their stuff had been brought up from the car, placed in the centre of the room. The carpet was incredibly plush, a large four-poster bed in the middle against the back wall. That wasn’t what caught Keith’s attention though. Somehow, even with the massive room, teenage Lance had managed to fill the entire place. Posters were plastered on the walls, ranging from celebrities to space-themed. The sides were covered in different projects, bookshelves overflowing with a mixture of books and movies, shelves with trophies lining the walls, most of them for swimming. Keith couldn’t help the slight pang of jealousy as he looked at Lance’s childhood bedroom.  
“Yeah, I was a bit of a dork,” Lance laughed nervously.  
Keith turned to look at him, seeing Lance looking around nervously.  
“You haven’t changed much then?” Keith smirked.  
Lance mad an offended noise, Keith laughing as the alpha tacked him to the bed.

****

Lance’s family was large, energetic and enjoyed spending time together. By the end of each day, Keith was exhausted, passing out the second his head hit the pillows. Preparations were in full swing for the party that was part of their mission, one where they’d be forced to schmooze up with all of the high-class alphas, including Zarkon. Allura arrived the day before, just as popular with Lance’s family as Lance himself. Soon, the ballroom was decorated, the food was being prepared and the equipment was set up. Yet, Keith still hadn’t managed to get what was wrong out of Lance, it was getting frustrating.

Lance was fiddling with Keith’s tie, there wasn’t any particular reason too but it kept him from pacing the room. With a sigh, Keith reached up, grasping Lance’s hands gently.   
“What’s wrong?”  
Lance sighed, resting their foreheads together gently.   
“Just, stick close ok?” he said, “And try not to get us in trouble.”  
Keith sighed, rolling his eyes.  
“Alright, but seriously, what’s bothering you?”  
“Not bothering me yet, but,” the door opened suddenly, cutting Lance off.  
“I have you earpieces for you,” Allura said brightly, walking in.  
Lance pulled away, turning to smile at her.  
“Thanks ‘Lura, you look amazing by the way.”  
Allura smiled, “Thank you, you two look very smart. Let’s head down then.”  
Lance nodded, taking an earpiece and slotting it in. Keith mimicked the action, looping his arm in Lance’s.  
“Let’s make a grand entrance then.”

There were so many alphas and omegas, filling the hall with their unsuppressed scent. There were a few betas interspersed between, most of them the serving staff.   
“Popular party this year,” Allura said softly.  
Lance nodded, “Bigger than it has been before.”  
She sighed, “Hopefully that will make it easier, so mingle, see what you can find out.”  
“And have fun too?” Lance asked hopefully.  
“Lance,” Allura smile-sighed.  
“Can I at least raid the buffet table, I have smelled that food since yesterday,” Lance said earnestly.  
Allura shook her head, “I suppose it will help you to blend in.”  
“Yay,” Lance said softly, before dragging Keith down onto the floor.

These sorts of parties were for rich and influential alphas to show off and try to outdo each other. The alphas in the room were the married couples, the heads of the family married to unite companies and produce alpha heirs. Because again, that’s definitely how it works, it wasn’t like Keith himself had two alpha parents, oh wait, he did. But anyway, the alphas were a mixture of the married couples and their children. The omegas were their harem, every single one of them mated and pregnant. Apparently, the more omegas an alpha had and the more children they had from those omegas, the more ‘successful’ as an alpha they were. It was all a bunch of rubbish but Keith didn’t have much of a choice other than try to blend in.

A couple of hours later and Keith was ready to tear his hair out. He hadn’t managed to get any information, none of them had and Keith was sick of dangling off Lance’s arm. He’d also spent most of the night with his face buried in Lance’s shoulder, resisting the urge to yell at or punch someone. Lance squeezed his hip every time this happened, it helped a little.

Eventually they split up, Keith wondering if the omegas would know anything. They were unlikely to talk when Lance was around. He spotted Allura talking to Lotor, who Keith was surprised to see. It was unlike him to show up at parties. Keith shook his head slightly, heading over to where a lot of the other omegas were talking. He probably wouldn’t fit in, but he could at the very least try.

The omegas were really nice people, even if their conversations were a bit dry. They basically never got out of their alpha’s mansion, lives consisting of their alpha, the other omegas and their children. After the slightly awkward,  
“Oh you’re not mated yet?”  
“No, we’ve not had the time.  
“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure your alpha will find the time for you at some point, they are awfully busy.”  
They chatted again about random things. Keith was not much for conversation, he was not the best at getting information out of people either. Him and Lance had gone on several information-gathering missions together. Partly because an alpha with an omega hanging off their arm can talk to more people without being accused of hitting on someone, partly for them both to have a learning experience on getting information. Keith was good at intimidating people and Lance was good at gaining information from seemingly pointless conversations. All Keith had to do was talk to these omegas and think like Lance, shouldn’t be too hard.

He’d actually managed it, Keith really wished Lance had been here, so he could rub it in his face. He was not completely socially inept, he could be subtle when he wanted to be. One of the omegas had mentioned how her alpha had come back smelling of unmated omega, from there he’d managed to get a good idea on where they may be able to find some more trafficked omegas, or at lest some information on them. Quickly excusing himself, Keith went to look for Lance.   
“I’ve got some information,” Keith said softly, activating the small microphone.  
Allura and Lance had probably heard him, but didn’t have a chance to reply. Tilting his head slightly, Keith sniffed, picking out Lance’s scent pretty easily.

Following his nose, Keith dove back into the crowd, heading in Lance’s direction. Dodging around people, Keith headed towards one of the pillars, until his arm was grabbed. It was an unexpected and unwelcome touch from an unfamiliar alpha.  
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing working in a place like this?” he said, squeezing Keith’s arm.  
Keith was a little confused, “I don’t work here.”  
“Oh? Well then what are you doing here beautiful, you’re not mated.”  
“I’m here with my boyfriend,” Keith said firmly, trying to pull his arm from the alpha’s grasp.  
He held on tight, almost painfully on Keith’s arm.  
“An alpha is just letting you wander around in this party, unescorted and unmated?” the alpha purred, pulling Keith closer, “That’s irresponsible, any alpha could just steal you away.”  
Keith took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It was ok, he couldn’t blow his cover.  
“I’m not interested,” Keith said.  
“Come on, I guarantee I won’t let you go unmated for much longer.”  
Keith flinched, “I told you, I’m not interested.”  
“What’s going on here?” Keith had never been more relieved to hear Allura’s voice.

She was stood nearby, Lotor stood a short distance behind her.  
“Ah, Ms Altea, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the alpha said, finally letting Keith go, “This one one of yours?”  
“No, he’s a friend’s,” she said, tilting her head to one side.  
Her scent was very dangerous, even Keith wanted to take a step back. The alpha was either very brave, or very stupid, Keith was more inclined to go for the latter.  
“You must understand, an unbonded omega wandering around, anyone could make a mistake.”  
Keith could feel Allura’s anger, her shoulder rising with frustration.  
“What’s going on here,” Keith hadn’t been paying attention, so Lance’s warm arm around him was a pleasant surprise.  
The alpha smirked, “I should’ve known, so broken you can’t even mark your own omega McClain.”  
Keith felt Lance’s entire body tense, a growl starting to rumble from his chest. Keith was surprised, Lance never growled. The alpha clearly didn’t see him as a threat.  
“You’re lucky your family is so rich,” he hummed, “Although maybe you shouldn’t have brought him here, all these powerful alphas, as rich as you but so much more, he’ll get stolen away.”  
Keith wondered if he would get away with punching this guy in the throat, without drawing attention to them. Lance tugged him closer to his side, beginning to back up.  
“Well I fancy dancing, come on,” he said, pulling Keith away.   
“Come with me and I can guarantee you a proper mating!”  
Lance’s arm became restricting around Keith’s waist, stopping the omega from turning back.  
“It’s not worth it,” Lance hissed.

Keith was basically vibrating with anger as the three of them excused themselves, weaving through corridors until they reached an empty room.  
“What information did you manage to get,” Allura asked, cutting Keith off, “You can discuss other matters after.”  
Keith let out a long breath, telling the two of them the information he had managed to get from the omegas. Allura smiled softly, nodding.  
“Excellent, I will let the others know and we will look into it.”  
She began to head out of the door, before pausing at the doorway.  
“Remember the party is still going on, don’t forget that.”  
Lance nodded, leaning against the table.

Keith slid their hands together, resting his foreheads together.  
“I’m going to punch that guy in the face.”  
Lance snorted, “No you’re not, we don’t want to interrupt the party.”  
“I don’t care, he shouldn’t have said that stuff to you.”  
Lance shrugged, “It wouldn’t be the first time, I’m used to it.”  
“That’s it,” Keith said pulling away, Lance grabbed him before he could get far though.  
“No, we’re not punching people today,” Lance sighed, wrapping his arm around Keith’s waist.  
Taking a step back, Keith pressed his back against Lance’s chest, laying his head on the alpha’s shoulder.  
“You know I love you,” Keith whispered.  
“Hmm.”  
“You know I’d never leave you.”  
“Hmm.”  
“Especially for none of those assholes, I’d gut them during the first date.”  
Lance huffed out a laugh, turning his head to press a kiss to Keith’s neck. His breath ghosted over Keith’s mating gland, causing him to jolt slightly. That thing he’d been putting off, not thinking of, came back in full force. Although he was still scared, Keith decided to take the leap, if he waited until he was a hundred percent sure, it would never happen.  
“And Lance, I want to be my mate.”

Lance stiffened and Keith wondered if he’d said something wrong, if Lance didn’t want to be his mate.  
“Keith, you can’t let what happened today…” oh, no, it turned out Lance was just an idiot.  
“I’m not letting what happened today influence my decision, I’ve been thinking about this a while and I’ve realised this is what I want, I want to be your mate idiot,” Keith sighed.  
“I don’t, it’s just, this is permanent, are you sure this is what you want, are you sure you want…”  
Lance’s me was unsaid, but Keith heard it loud and clear.  
“Oh really, a bond mark is permanent? Well I had no idea,” Keith said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have dated you if I had no plans on keeping you around. I love you Lance and I want to be your mate, I think we’ve waited long enough.”  
“And you said you didn’t have a way with words,” Lance mumbled, burying his face in Keith’s hair.   
“Besides there’s still a few months until I’m due another heat, so I have time to change my mind if you become an awful alpha,” Keith shrugged, grinning as he felt Lance laugh.

****

Lance didn’t become an awful alpha, Keith’s information turned out to be very useful, enabling them to save two kidnapped omegas. All in all, it was a pretty good few months. As Keith came off his suppressants and started going into preheat, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. He nested a little more furiously than last time, trying to make the nest as comfortable and as neat as he could. He fussed over it for over an hour longer than he really needed too, straightening blankets and fluffing pillows. He could hear Lance pacing in the living room, could smell his slight worry from how long Keith was taking. He wouldn’t disturb his nesting omega though.

Eventually Keith let out a long breath, stripping off his clothes, leaving him only in his boxers, he was starting to get warm.  
“Lance,” he called out, clambering into his nest.  
“Yeah?” Lance called back, slightly muffled through the door.  
“You can come in now,” he replied, sitting cross-legged in the centre of the nest.   
The door opened and Lance walked in, smiling lightly at Keith. The omega opened his arms, inviting Lance to come into his nest. He walked over, stripping off his clothes on the way until he too was just in his boxers. Careful not to disturb the walls, Lance clambered in, immediately pulling Keith into his arms. Keith fell limp against him, humming happily as he nuzzled at Lance’s scent gland.   
“You all right?” he asked, scenting Keith thoroughly.  
“Yeah, I just,” Keith shrugged, “Never really get used to the feeling of preheat.”  
“Do you want me to rub your back?”  
Keith nodded, shifting slightly so Lance could massage his back and hips, easing the dull ache that had settled in. It was so much nicer spending a heat with his alpha, normally just before his heat, Keith is so wired he couldn’t possibly hope to get any sleep. But with Lance’s soothing hands on him, it was all too easy to slip into unconsciousness.

He woke up only a few hours later, covered in a fine layer of sweat, heat threatening to strike within the hour. He groaned, burying his face into Lance’s neck.  
“You awake?” Lance asked softly, fingers tracing random patterns on Keith’s back.  
Keith nodded, “Stupid heat.”  
He rubbed his legs together, nibbling lightly at Lance’s collarbone. Lance rubbed up and down his back, rolling them over so he was pinning Keith to the bed.  
“You alright?” Lance asked.  
“Just, sensitive,” Keith sighed.  
“Wanna try get some more sleep?”  
Keith shook his head, “I’ll not get back to sleep now.”  
“Ok, what do you want me to do?”  
“Just,” Keith pulled Lance down so the alpha was sprawled on top of him.  
The weight was an odd sort of comfort, especially in this uncomfortable in-between stage of heat and preheat.

Keith’s grip on Lance’s shoulder blades tightened as time went on, mind starting to fall into the haze of heat. His scent was starting to shift, from sickly sweet to more spicy-sweet. Lance hummed, turning his head into Keith’s neck. Keith shuddered, chirruping as Lance nibbled on his earlobe.  
“Your scent’s shifted, nearly there?” he asked, shifting slightly.  
Keith hissed, twitching away slightly as Lance brushed over his sensitive nipples.  
“Sorry,” Lance muttered.  
“No, no, it’s ok,” Keith said, knotting his hand in Lance’s hair.  
His cock was starting to harden, hole starting to ooze slick. Hid first wave of heat hit, and hit hard.  
“Fuck me,” Keith hissed, dropping his head back, “Mark me, make me yours.”  
Lance growled lightly, playful. It caused Keith to moan, releasing more slick. Lance’s hands slip under his hips, pulling his boxers down and discarding them. He immediately took Keith into his mouth, causing the omega to scream and cum almost instantly. Lance’s fingers dipped inside his hole, slipping in easily with the amount of slick oozing out. Keith came again as Lance stretched him out carefully, curling his fingers to strike Keith’s prostate on every thrust. They barely took the edge off, simply riling Keith up more as Lance’s other hand moved to rub his nipples.  
“Lance,” he said softly.  
Lance lent forward, rubbing their noses together as he worked four fingers inside Keith’s hole.  
“Alright, I’ve got you love.”

Keith was flipped onto his hands and knees, his hair brushed aside to revel the back of his neck. Keith shuddered, dropping his head to expose his neck more. Lance shuffled around on his knees, cock pressing tantalisingly close to Keith’s hole.  
“Yes?” Lance whispered, pressing himself to Keith’s back.  
“Please,” Keith whimpered back.  
Lance lent back, thrusting in with one smooth roll of his hips. Keith cried out, back arching and arms giving out. He shuddered, pleasure lighting up his spine as Lance’s cock stretched him almost painfully. He began to thrust his hips back a little, getting used to the slight pull inside him.  
“Hang on,” Lance said, grasping Keith’s hips to hold him in place.  
Keith felt Lance shift inside him, heard him moving on the bed to get a better angle, before he started to thrust.

Keith was moaning and shuddering, pleasure lighting up every nerve. Keith was completely gone with pleasure, the stretch of Lance’s cock making thinking impossible. His hole tightened as he came dry, cock still painfully hard and red.  
“Lance,” he groaned, “Your knot, Lance.”  
“Hang on,” Lance grunted, “Just a little more.”  
Lance’s hips stuttered as he thrusted, hand going to the back of Keith’s head to hold it in place.  
“Stay,” he growled.  
Keith shuddered at Lance’s commanding tone, allowing himself to go limp in the alpha’s grasp. With a powerful snap of his hips, Lance pressed his hips to Keith’s ass, burying his entire length inside Keith. The omega howled in pleasure as Lance’s knot expanded, cumming hard as they were locked together. As Lance’s cock began to pulse with his release, he lunged forward. His teeth locked onto Keith’s nape, drawing blood instantly. Keith screamed, blacking out for a few seconds at the intensity of the feeling. It was intense, like nothing he’d ever felt before.

Keith could only whimper as Lance moved them, knot pulling painfully on his rim.  
“Shh,” Lance cooed gently, laying them down so they were spooning.  
Keith groaned as the haze of his orgasm and heat started to fade, the pain from Lance’s knot and mating bite starting to pierce through his thoughts. Lance lent forward, nuzzling and licking at the fresh mating mark.  
“You alright?” he muttered.  
Keith nodded weakly, boneless against the softness of his nest.  
“I love you,” Lance whispered, “I love you so much.”  
Keith crooned softly, intertwining his and Lance’s fingers. They laid there for a little while, basking in the afterglow until Lance’s knot deflated enough for him to pull out. Keith complained lightly as Lance lent away, reaching out of the nest for something. Rolling to face him, Keith curled up to watch Lance rummaging around. He started slightly as a water bottle was placed in his hand, the top already cracked. Sitting up, Keith drained almost the whole thing. Lance reached out, tucking Keith’s hair behind his ear. Keith lent into his touch, heat starting to spark in his belly. Apparently, it was going to be an intense one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I'm going to do a little world building here, so if you're not interested skip to after the break...
> 
> Ok, so relationships among the big alpha families are a little complicated, and normally have a company attached to them. Basically the family unit consists of the head, their wife/husband (These are more often than not both alphas) their usually one 'head' child (As alpha pregnancies are so risky) and all three of their omega harems and their children. To merge two families their 'head' children will get married, this is very rare. Mostly the children from the omegas will be married/mated off, sealing contracts and providing 'head' children with an alpha husband/wife.
> 
> 'Head' children are alphas, an alpha may mate as many omegas as they like but an omega can be mated only once, people, whatever their secondary sex, may only marry once.
> 
> Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I tried to explain it as best I could...
> 
> ****
> 
> Anyway, I'm updating on a Monday...what am I thinking?! Well it was finished and I thought I may as well put it up, don't expect this to be a regular thing I am very busy Mondays.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story so far, your nice comments and kudos's fuel me! Feel free to ask me things about the world, I will try to explain things as best I can.


	9. Mate III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance spend their time as a mated couple, and they gain a surprising new ally for Voltron.

“Fancy a spar?” Shiro asked, watching as Keith smacked the shit out of a punching bag.  
“Sure,” Keith shrugged, stretching his arms above his head.  
The two of them made their way into the centre of the training room, Shiro stretching and rolling his arms. The two of them dropped into a familiar fighting stance, shifting around each other. Watching, waiting, Keith saw his opportunity and lunged.

Keith had never beat Shiro in hand-to-hand and that didn’t change. Keith hit the mat again and again, Shiro pinning him down several times.   
“You give?” Shiro said, holding Keith in a headlock.  
Keith wriggled, trying to twist his way out of the hold. It was basically impossible, and Shiro began to ruffle his hair, altering his grip on Keith to stop him wriggling his way out.  
“No,” Keith said, trying to reverse.  
He didn’t realise how much weight he’d put behind trying to push him off, until Shiro let him go. With an undignified shout, Keith stumbled back, landing flat on his ass. Shiro snorted, looking down on Keith was laid flat on his back.

Shiro slumped down on the floor next to Keith, stretching out his legs. Both of them were panting lightly, covered in a sheen of sweat. Keith needed that, he needed a chance to stretch his muscles after his heat.  
“So, how’s being mated treating you?” Shiro asked, prodding Keith with his foot.  
“It’s nice,” Keith said, shrugging.  
Shiro stared at him.  
“You went through one of the most intimate things in a relationship, you bound yourself to Lance forever and all you can say is, it’s nice.”  
Keith shrugged, “You said it yourself, I’m not good with words.”  
Shiro jabbed him with the heel of his foot.  
“It’s difficult to describe!” Keith protested.  
Shiro kicked him again, “Well try”

“I don’t know, it’s like, having someone there, watching over you. Not in a creepy way though, in a I’ll keep you safe, I will comfort you sort of way. It’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket,” Keith said, wrapping his arms around himself.  
“See, if you put your mind to it…”  
“Shut up Shiro.”

****

Lance was sat at his desk, scribbling on note paper, typing on the computer then back to the paper. There was a wrinkle between his eyebrows, a frown marring his face. Keith didn’t like that look on his face. Wandering over, Keith draped himself over Lance’s back. The alpha jumped, Keith smiled, pressing a kiss to his neck.  
“Hey,” he said softly.  
“Hi, you finished training?” Lance asked, eyes not leaving his computer screen.  
Keith hummed in confirmation, stepping back to rub Lance’s shoulders. Keith wasn’t the best at massages, that was more Lance’s forte, but he did know enough to feel the tenseness. Lance sighed, hands pausing as Keith’s hands moved from his shoulders to his neck.  
“That feels good.”  
“Yeah?”  
“You’ve improved.”  
Keith snorted, squeezing a little harder that he should. Lance wined in protest, glaring at Keith. Lance continued to watch Keith through lidded eyes, biting his lip lightly.  
“Keith.”  
“Mmhuh.”  
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Lance said, face becoming serious, “And you’ve got to promise not to tell anyone else.”  
“Lance, what?”  
“Anyone, I’m serious,” Lance said, face sombre.  
“I, yeah, ok.”

Keith was very confused as he was led out from the main room and towards coms, Lance wasn’t talking, which was very unnerving.  
“Lance, where?”  
“Please, just, come on,” Lance said, tugging Keith along and into coms.  
Pidge was perched in there, blinking at the several screens.  
“Out Pidgeon,” Lance said.  
Pidge blinked up at him, before shaking her head. She got up, without so much as a protest and began to leave.  
“I was going to head home anyway,” she shrugged, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“See you,” Lance said absently.  
“Bye Pidge,” Keith said, surprised at her amiability.  
Lance was rapidly tapping away at the computers, eyes darting over the screens. Keith started at him, chewing his lip nervously. He still wasn’t all too sure what was going on, but he trusted Lance, so he just stood in silence beside them.

The screen lit up, Lance making a call.  
“Ok, you have too keep this a secret, it’s really important you do,” Lance said, twisting his fingers.  
“Lance, I already said I would ok, whatever it is, I will keep it a secret,” Keith said, resting his hand on Lance’s shoulder.  
Keith couldn’t help but feel nerves starting to churn in his stomach. What on earth had Lance all worked up like this. The call connected, and a woman appeared on screen. She was familiar, although Keith had never seen her before, the relative of someone maybe.  
“The hell Lance, I have better things to do than talk to you all day!” she exclaimed, crossing her arms.  
“Sorry, but I wanted to introduce you to someone, Veronica, this is Keith.”

Keith had given up on trying to make sense of what was going on, he was speaking to Lance’s sister, who was supposed to be dead. She wasn’t, he wasn’t hallucinating or speaking to a ghost. As it turned out, Veronica had done the worst possible thing the omega child of an aristocratic alpha family could do, fall in love with another omega. So, she’s faked her death and gone into hiding. Keith was still a little confused by this over-elaborate plan and also the fact that Veronica had apparently wanted to meet him.

She was very like her younger brother, not just in looks. The two chattered happily for a while, in spite of apparently having chattered that morning. Like with Lance, Keith didn’t feel pressured to talk, Veronica was perfectly capable of carrying a conversation by herself. Keith found himself really liking the other omega and hadn’t even noticed how long had passed until they hung up.  
“Thank you, for trusting me,” Keith said softly, linking their fingers.  
Lance tilted his head to one side, “You’re my mate, you’re part of the family, of course I trust you.”  
Keith made a very embarrassing noise, eyes burning slightly as he flushed. There was no way in hell he would let Lance see, so he punched him in the shoulder and wandered off. Tomorrow what their day off, Keith intended it to be a good one.

 

****

 

Leaning back, Keith rested his hands on Lance’s thighs. It was harder to move in this position, but he could roll his hips while keeping Lance deep inside. Speaking of, the alpha’s face was twisted in pure pleasure, eyes unfocused, grunting and moaning softly. Keith loved this position, loved controlling both his and Lance’s pleasure as he rode the other man. Keith moaned lightly as he shifted his hips just right, brushing his prostate and causing him to squeeze down on Lance. Lance whimpered, a very un-alpha sound, but Keith thought it was adorable.  
“Feeling good?” Keith purred, smiling down at him.  
Lance babbled and Keith grinned, it was better than he thought, Lance was a complete incoherent mess.

Sitting up, Keith began to rapidly rise and fall, rolling his hips to change the angle. He made sure to keep his eyes on Lance’s face, watch his eyelids flutter and catch sight of the brilliant blue he loved so much.  
“Keith, Kitten I’m close,” Lance babbled.  
Keith swirled his hips, reaching down to grasp his own dick. Lance groaned, sliding his hands around to squeeze Keith’s ass. Keith huffed, tilting his head back.  
“What are you waiting for?” Keith said, intentionally tightening.  
Lance groaned, hand moving, fingers slipping between Keith’s ass cheeks. Slowly he shifted his fingers until they brushed against where they were connected. Keith’s hips jerked, moaning as his sensitive rim was touched. Keith bucked into his own hand as he pressed back onto Lance’s cock and finger.  
“Come on Lance, cum for me,” Keith whispered, that was all it took.  
Lance moaned, driving his hips up as he released. It only took a few more flicks of his wrist before Keith came too, collapsing forward and dirtying Lance’s chest.

They were disgustingly sticky, sweat and cum drying between their chests. Keith pulled a face, sitting up with a groan. Shuffling forward so Lance slipped out of him, Keith rubbed his hands up and down Lance’s arms.   
“Come on, we need a shower.”  
Lance groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.  
“I can’t, you’ve killed me.”  
Keith shook his head, dropping onto the bed.  
“Oh woe is me, a poor alpha, ripped from the world in his prime, died because his mate was too damn sexy,” Lance bemoaned.  
Keith snorted, rolling his eyes and kicking Lance with his heel.  
“I suppose I can’t complain, it’s probably the best way to go.”  
“Lance.”  
“Tell my mama I love her, but not how I died!”  
“Lance.”  
“l died of morning sex!”  
“You know what, you stay there, I’ll go shower. Alone,” Keith said, sliding to his feet.   
He barely made it three steps away from the bed before Lance grabbed him around the waist, Keith had no protest until Lance picked him up.  
“No! Lance! Why!?” Keith laughed, kicking his legs out.  
“Shower time!” Lance said brightly.

****

Linking their fingers together, Keith tugged Lance into the café. He spotted Krolia instantly, perched at one of the tables. She smiled as he walked in, eyes shifting between the two of them.  
“I’ll go order,” Lance said.  
Keith nodded, “The usual please.”  
“Yeah, I gathered,” Lance shrugged, walking up to the counter.  
Keith wandered over to Krolia, taking a seat opposite her.  
“Hello.”  
“Hi,” Keith said.  
Their relationship was much less awkward and tense now. Keith still hadn’t forgiven her, probably never would, but he was trying to get to know her.

“I see you’ve brought Lance along with you,” she said, eyes following the tall alpha as he got their drinks.  
“Yeah, I thought it was about time you met him, because, well, we’re mated now,” Keith said.  
Krolia raised an eyebrow, “I thought something smelt different about you.”  
“Ah, well, yeah,” Keith said softly.  
“And I will be very happy to meet him,” she continued, smiling lightly, “I have been waiting to meet the one my son spoke so highly of.”  
A mug was placed in front of Keith’s hand on the table, a warm body sliding into the seat beside him.  
“Hello, you must be Krolia,” Lance said brightly, holding out a hand.  
Krolia shook it with a smile, “It’s nice to meet you Lance.”

Keith didn’t really know why he worried, Lance seemed to have this incredible power to make anyone like him. The two of them chatted happily, well Lance did most of the chattering, Krolia smiled as she listened to him. Her eyes flitted over to Keith occasionally, shining brightly with a face that clearly said, you picked a good one.

****

Keith jogged through the corridors, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any movement. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, making him think this mission may well be a bust.  
“Just one more place to look,” Pidge said, sighing softly, “Doesn’t look like there’s going to be much, or anything really.”  
“We need to check every possible outcome,” Shiro said, Keith could imagine him crossing his arms.  
Pushing open the last door, Keith slipped down the corridor. His footsteps were muffled by the dusty carpet.  
“I can’t see anything,” Lance said, “Not from here.”  
Keith let out a long breath, pushing open another door. Nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d been on a duff mission, not all intel was accurate. They had been a little suspicious of this particular source, but they couldn’t risk not investigating it.

Still nothing, Keith let out a long breath.  
“Just get out of there,” Pidge sighed, “This was a bust.”  
Keith hummed in agreement, before freezing.  
“I hear footsteps,” he hissed, head snapping around.   
He tried to work out where the sound was coming from, where he could hide. Ducking into one of the doorways, Keith pulled out his knife, pressing himself up against the wall. Hopefully whoever it was would walk past, he didn’t see why they should walk into this room. Unless, they were looking for someone. The footsteps paused outside the door, Keith tensed. Lance was on the other side of the building, even if Keith could call him, it would take him a while to get here. If they came in here, Keith would just have to hold out as best he could. Although there was a window, he was probably too high up though. There were a lot of voices out there though, maybe the window would be the better option.

Yeah, the door was opening. Keith made a split-second decision, he was going to make a break for it. Sprinting for the window, Keith really hoped he could either climb out, or at the very least not break anything. He barely made it half way when his legs were knocked out from under him. Keith hit the ground with an oof, the wind knocked out of him. Rolling over, Keith swung his knife. A booted foot swung, slamming into his hand. His knife skidded away from him, Keith cried out in pain. He was hauled up to his feet, hands held tightly behind his back.  
“Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events,” Lotor stood in font of him, three unfamiliar women behind him, “Search around, there’ll be someone else.”  
Keith stiffened, growling lightly. His earpiece was pulled out.  
“Now now,” Lotor said, “There’s no need for that.”

The sound of shouting and a very familiar voice outside made Keith tense up. The sound of something slamming into the wall made him jump. Lotor sighed, shaking his head. Lance was dragged into the room, blood streaming down his face from his nose. The two of them locked eyes, Lance’s expression flashing in pain slightly as he spotted a helpless Keith. He was dragged over, the two of them stood side-by-side.  
“The youngest McClain and his omega, what an interesting pair we’ve found,” Lotor drawled, eyes flicking between the two of them, “Now, while we’re waiting for your backup, this is Acxa, Narti, Ezor and Zethrid my, bodyguards I suppose.”  
“What do you want?” Lance spat, the blood having trailed down his face to stain his teeth.  
“I just want to talk,” Lotor said, grabbing Lance’s chin and tipping his head up.  
Keith growled, a deep warning sound.  
“Easy, I’m just checking his nose,” Lotor laughed, “No reason to get upset. Hmm, doesn’t look broken.”  
He released Lance and Keith felt himself relax minutely, he didn’t like Lotor’s hands on Lance.  
“You may get a couple of black eyes, sorry about that, Zethrid can get a little overenthusiastic,” Lotor said.  
The biggest and most muscular of the four women shrugged.  
“He tried to get away.”

Keith had never been more relieved to see his pack when they burst through the door, guns drawn.  
Lotor smiled, putting his hands up.  
“Don’t worry, I just want to talk.”  
“Let them go,” Allura snapped.  
“Gladly,” Lotor shrugged.  
Keith was surprised to feel the grip around his wrists loosen, grabbing Lance’s arm, he pulled the two of them over to the other side of the room.   
“Now,” Lotor said, “Can we talk?”

****

“I don’t like it,” Keith grumbled, leaning up against the wall.  
“And you think we do?” Pidge said.  
Him, Pidge and Hunk were all hovering around the room where Allura and Shiro were chatting to Lotor. Keith had been kicked out the room where Lance was having his nose sorted, apparently his ‘hovering was getting annoying.’   
“What could he possibly gain from this,” Keith hissed.  
“Betrayal? Finding our base of operations?” Hunk replied, “Why did we bring them here?”  
“They were blindfolded,” Pidge shrugged.  
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Hunk sighed.  
“If he really does want to help us, the information he has will be invaluable,” Pidge replied.  
“If,” Hunk added.  
“Did you notice his scent was a bit off?” Keith asked, tilting his head.  
“Oh thank god, I thought it was just me,” Hunk breathed out a sigh of relief.  
“He’s wearing scent blockers,” Pidge said, “That’s a bit odd.”  
“We need Lance, he’s got the best nose,” Hunk grumbled.  
“That got punched,” Keith growled.

“Well it’s not broken,” Lance said, walking down the corridor.  
Bruises were starting to form around his nose, which was looking a little red. Keith breathed out a short sigh of relief, Lance was smiling, which was always a good sign.  
“You know you can’t hear anything through the door right?” he chuckled, sidling up to them.  
“We can try,” Pidge hissed.  
Lance rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall next to the doorframe.   
“Right,” Lance drew the world out.  
“How’s your sense of smell?” Pidge asked.  
“Fine? Why?” Lance frowned.  
“Lotor smells funny and we can’t work out why,” Hunk said.  
“So? Allura’s in there, she’ll probably work it out,” Lance shrugged.  
“Yeah, but everyone knows you have the best nose,” Pidge said.  
“Well, yeah,” Lance said, in that way that said he didn’t really believe them, “I am amazing after all.”  
Keith shifted from his place by the door, moving to lean next to him.  
“Exactly, you can always find anyone in a crowded room,” he shrugged.  
“Or tell who’s been in a room in the past couple of days,” Hunk added.  
“And you can smell someone through scent blockers,” Pidge said.  
Lance flushed, “Well…I…um…”  
He was saved from answering by the door opening. Allura peaked her head around.  
“Lance, could you come in here please?” she said.  
“Sure,” Lance said, pushing away from the wall.  
Keith lent up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, Lance flushed even darker, following Allura into the room.  
“Fuck off,” Keith grumbled at Hunk and Pidge’s grins.

They hovered outside the door for a little longer, all of them trying to listen in. When the door opened, they almost all fell through into the room.  
Lance was fighting back a laugh, while Allura and Shiro looked unamused.  
“We have been invited to a ball at the Daibazaal mansion, Lance and Keith, you will be attending and acting as a distraction and look out,” Allura said, before sweeping from the room.  
Shiro smiled encouragingly at them, before escorting Lotor out of the room.  
The three of them immediately hounded Lance.  
“What happened?  
“Are we really trusting him?”  
“What the hell?”  
“What’s wrong with his scent?”  
Lance held up his hands, “Woah, woah, woah calm down, we’re not completely trusting him yet. This is more of an experiment to see if we can. His scent? Well, it turns out, Lotor. Well, he’s an omega.”  
“What?” Hunk said.  
“Lotor is an omega, that’s one of the reasons why he’s helping, it’s also why he’s not a big fan of his parents,” Lance sighed.  
“Damn,” Hunk said.  
Keith leaned against Lance’s side, the alpha’s arm automatically wrapping around him.  
“You up to acting like my soft sweet omega again?”  
Keith smirked.  
“What are you talking about, I am your soft, sweet omega,” Keith said, softening his voice as much as he could.  
The three of them burst out laughing, Keith’s mouth curling into a smirk.

****

The party at the Daibazaal mansion was a lot less relaxed then at the McClain mansion. Keith was also incredibly glad that he and Lance were bonded now, although he had a feeling Allura wouldn’t have had them gone if they weren’t. After all, there was ‘entertainment’ provided in the form of unmated omegas, all ready and willing. Keith did not need to be mistaken for one of them. The two of them stuck together, which wasn’t unusual. Most of the omegas were sticking close to their alphas, there were a lot fewer of them and not one of them looked pregnant. It was a little suspicious, but that thought was quickly purged from his mind as someone came to talk to them.

They stayed until the party disbanded, hoping that they had given the others long enough to find whatever they were looking for. They met up with Allura on the way out.  
“We seem to have got what we needed,” Allura said, “Head home and get some sleep, try not to overthink what they have said.”  
Lance shrugged, “I can’t even remember what we talked about.”  
“Lance,” Allura huffed out a laugh, “You can’t just ignore people.”  
“Oh, I can, they were getting annoying,” Lance said, “I had to focus on stopping Keith from punching people.”  
“I wouldn’t have!” Keith protested, “I have some self-control.”  
Both Allura and Lance gave him sceptical looks.  
“I do!”  
“Let’s get in the car,” Lance said.  
“I do! Lance!”

****

Keith started to feel a bit queasy in the car, his head starting to ache.  
“You feeling alright?” Lance asked.  
“Yeah, I just,” Keith grumbled.  
“You can sleep if you want,” Lance said.  
“No, I’m fine, I’ll keep you company,” Keith shrugged, “It’s probably nothing.”  
Lance shot him one last worried look, before returning his attention to the road.

As the journey went on, Keith began to feel worse and worse. Head starting to pound, stomach aching. Pressing his burning forehead against the cool window, Keith resisted the urge to groan.  
“Keith, you really don’t look too good,” Lance said softly, “Seriously, sleep, we’re not far.”  
Keith wanted to protest, but he closed his eyes as the streetlights caused his head to pound. Keith curled in on himself as pain wracked his body.  
“Keith, Keith!” Lance said urgently, snapping Keith out of his haze.  
“What?” he groaned, shaking.  
“You smell of preheat,” Lance said.  
“What, that’s…not possible,” Keith said, panting slightly.  
Although now Lance had mentioned it, the symptoms were undeniably that of preheat. Keith wined, a horribly distressed sound.  
“Shit, they must have put stimulants in the food,” Lance groaned, “I’m sorry, I should have known they’d do this.”  
Keith really wanted to assure Lance it was ok, but he was shaking so badly, and his stomach was starting to churn.  
“Pull over,” he hissed instead.  
“What?”  
“Lance, pull over!” Keith yelled.

The second the car stopped, Keith flung the door open, vomiting out of the open door. His entire body was screaming at him, get home, get to safety, nest, he needed a nest. Gritting his teeth, Keith shakily wiped his mouth on his sleeve. It was very gross, but he needed to pull himself together. They couldn’t get home with him hanging out of the car, he needed to hold it together.  
“Go, home, we need to get home,” he gritted out.  
Lance looked a little panicked, but at Keith’s rough demand that was painfully close to a plea, he snapped back. Keith slammed the door closed and they set off again.

His heat hit in full force just before they got home and Keith felt horrifying. He had experienced dry heats before, they were nothing new. This one, was by far the worst of all. Whether it was because he was away from a nest and home, or if it was because of the stimulants, he didn’t know. He knew he was wining, shaking so badly, he vaguely registered Lance trying to comfort him. It wasn’t really helping.

Keith only realised they were home when suddenly Lance was beside him, undoing his seatbelt and pulling him out of the car. Keith clung to Lance’s shoulders, burying his face in his neck. He could just about hear Lance talking, well babbling. Mentioning Keith’s suppressants and checking they were the ones that didn’t have a really bad reaction when mixed with stimulants, otherwise they’d have to go to the hospital.  
“Little further,” Lance whispered softly, “We’re almost there.”  
There were too many smells, they were overwhelming and Keith was in so much pain. He smelled the second they entered the apartment, he began to tug weakly at his clothes, they smelled too much like other alphas.   
“Easy, let me get to our room,” Lance said softly, nudging the door open and lowering Keith onto the bed.  
Helping the omega strip off his clothes, Lance wrapped him up in blankets from their bed, vanishing for a few minutes to grab some more. Keith bundled himself up in the blankets, curling up as tight as possible in his little ‘hide’.  
“Lance,” he called gently.  
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Lance said, “Just give me a second.”  
Lance slipped in alongside him, also having removed his clothes to get rid of the smell.

Keith threw himself into Lance’s arms, locking all his limbs around the alpha. A large hand rested on the small of his back, rubbing up and down his spine to offer some relief. There was the rustle of a paper leaflet being opened.  
“Ok, so we don’t need to go to the hospital,” Lance said, clearly relieved, “You’ll have a dry heat but should be alright after.”  
Keith grumbled softly, squeezing his eyes closed. He still hurt like absolute hell and he was pretty sure he was running a fever, but at least he was back at home and heats didn’t last forever.  
“I’m sorry,” Lance muttered softly, “I’m so sorry.”  
Keith blinked bleary eyes up at him, wining softly.  
“’s not your fault, you couldn’t have known,” he mumbled, before burrowing his head back in Lance’s neck.  
Letting out a long breath, Lance curled his arms tighter around Keith, carefully scenting the omega. It helped a little, helping even more when Lance lightly bit Keith’s bond mark again. With Lance massaging his back, the other arm over his shoulders, Keith was able to fall into a fitful sleep with Lance’s soft whisper.  
“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, I'm not all that sure about this chapter, a lot happens and I wasn't too sure how to end it. Also I'm basically half asleep all the time now...so....yeah...hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Again, if you have any questions about the world I will be happy to answer them to the best of my abilities.


	10. Family I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of mixing heat suppressants with heat simulators make themselves known, with Keith having to suffer through them. Lotor apologises and something unexpected happens.

Keith collapsed face-down on the bed, muffling his groan into the pillow. The only audience to his suffering was Blue, curled up on Lance’s pillow. She meowed at him, padding over to step into the small of his back. She meowed, padding at his shirt before curling up. Damn it, now Keith was trapped face-down on the bed. Another meow and red jumped up too, clambering onto Keith’s shoulder blades and curling up. Now he was really trapped.

Blindly reaching out for his phone, Keith ever so carefully twisted his head to the side.  
**Keith:** Help, the cats have me pinned  
**Lance:** You can’t move, it’s illegal  
**Keith:** But I’m trapped face-down on the bed  
**Lance:** Sucks to be you  
**Lance:** But you still can’t move  
**Lance:** The cats have chosen you  
**Lance:** To move would be illegal  
**Keith:** You’ve said that already  
**Lance:** It’s important  
**Lance:** No moving  
**Lance:** Especially if they’re both on you  
**Lance:** Have a nap  
Keith groaned, burying his face in the pillow. A nap would be really nice right now, but his stupid shitty body refused to let him settle. Nausea from the hormone injection Coran had given him was starting to set in, stupid stimulants screwing up his stupid heat cycle. Red and Blue started to purr, the two of them always seemed to know when one of them was feeling a bit off. Squeezing his eyes closed, Keith tried to get some sleep.

Keith wasn’t that sure if he fell asleep, but he was certainly awake when Red and Blue jumped off his back when keys jingled in the lock. Rolling onto his back, Keith groaned slightly as his stomach rolled. Yeah, he was just going to lay on the bed for a while.  
“Honey, I’m home!” Lance sing-songed brightly.  
Keith rolled his eyes, “Bedroom.”  
Keith was unbelievably gone for this man, Lance was just too damn adorable with his slightly wrinkled shirt and rumpled hair.  
“Hey,” Lance smiled, undoing his shirt idly to toss in the hamper.  
“Hi,” Keith mumbled, holding out an arm.  
Flopping onto the bed, Lance curled up nest to Keith, his head resting on Keith’s chest. Humming lightly, Keith curled his arm around Lance’s shoulders.

They lay there together for a little while, enough time for Keith’s stomach to settle and for him to think he may be able to drift off. Red and Blue had padded in again, wriggling into the small gaps between their bodies. That’s when Lance decided he wanted to talk.  
“You alright?”  
Keith hummed, before sighing lightly.  
“Apparently the mixture of stimulants and suppressants have completely messed me up, so I have to go through a normal heat before I can go back on suppressants,” he grumbled lightly.  
“Ah,” Lance said, “So not that great then?”  
“I’ve been better,” Keith mumbled.  
Lance nodded, nuzzling into his chest. Keith smiled and pilled him closer.  
“Love you.”  
“Love you too.”

****

Keith tensed as Lotor walked towards him, grumbling lightly deep in his chest. Shiro nudged him, hard, giving him a pointed look. Quieting his grumbling, Keith never the less kept his head held high. Lotor walked up to them, head dipped and body language very submissive.  
“I want to apologise, for what happened,” he said, “I should have known something like that would’ve happened and warned you. So, I am sorry.”  
Keith stared him down, watching Lotor shifting uncomfortably. He didn’t trust Lotor, so didn’t know if the apology was honest. But Shiro was giving him that stupid, ‘be nice’ look.  
“I’ll think about it,” Keith said, walking past him.  
He could hear Shiro sigh, say,  
“He’ll get there, give him time.”  
Before jogging slightly to catch up with Keith.

“Keith.”  
“No,” Keith said, “I don’t care what you have to say about it, I don’t even know if he’s being honest.”  
“He’s trying,” Shiro replied.  
“Well he can keep doing that,” Keith said, “Maybe I’ll forgive him at some point.”  
Shiro sighed, shaking his head.

****

Keith enjoyed watching Lance swim. The powerful ripple of his muscles as he ploughed rapidly through the water, he truly did belong in the water.  
“You going to join me then?” Lance chuckled, bobbing up next to where Keith was sat.  
“Hmm, nah, I’m enjoying the view,” Keith grinned, kicking him lightly in the chest.  
Lance hummed, “It is an amazing view.”  
He winked, flicking water at Keith idly. Sticking his tongue out, Keith pushed Lance away with his foot. Lance sprang out of the water, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist. Keith held his breath, predicting Lance pulling him into the water. Shoving and kicking, Keith pushed Lance away before returning to the surface. Lance bobbed up, Keith splashed him before swimming away.  
“Hey!” Lance protested, taking off after him.  
Keith knew he had no real hope of getting away, Lance was much faster. He barely got half way across the pool before Lance grabbed him. He was dunked under water, before being hauled to the shallow end and tickled mercilessly. Keith squealed and laughed, trying in vain to get out of Lance’s grasp. It didn’t work, Lance only tightened his grip and blew a raspberry onto the sensitive skin of his neck.

They wrestled for a little bit, shouting and laughing at each other. Keith was pretty sure he’d in hailed half the pool by the end of it, but he didn’t mind all that much. Eventually the two of them tired, simply laying back and allowing themselves to float. Keith had intended to actually swim when he had gone down to the pool, as usual, Lance had completely derailed his plans. As usual, Keith didn’t mind. Lance’s eyes had drifted closed, completely relaxed.  
“Don’t fall asleep, if you start to drown I won’t save you,” Keith said idly.  
“So mean,” Lance hummed, “You’re so cruel Keith.”  
“Whatever you say,” Keith mumbled.

“Urgh, I’m pruning,” Lance complained idly, “And I’m getting cold.”  
Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s complaints, standing up. Wading over to where Lance was, Keith pushed him so he was ducked underwater.  
“What the hell!” Lance said, spluttering as he surfaced.  
“Come on,” Keith said, “Let’s get out.”  
Draping himself over Keith back, Lance nodded.  
“Ok, let’s go.”  
Rolling his eyes, Keith hauled the two of them over to the side of the pool. Lance laughed as Keith pulled them through the water.  
“You’re enjoying this way too much,” Keith chuckled.  
“It’s fun!” Lance said brightly, nuzzling into Keith’s neck.  
“You giant child,” Keith said.  
Lance hummed, wrapping his legs around Keith’s waist. Keith huffed out a laugh, poking at Lance’s side to try and get him to let go.  
“I won’t be able to get out if you cling to me.”  
“You can try.”  
“This can only end badly.”

****

“Are you even trying?” Pidge asked, shaking her head.  
“I told you, I’m no good at video games,” Keith protested lightly.  
“You should have won at least once by pure luck by now, this is just sad,” Pidge shook her head sadly.  
Keith punched her in the arm, “I told you I’m no good, Lance won’t even play with me anymore.”  
Pidge snorted, “I can see why, the CPU is a better opponent than you.”  
Keith groaned, flopping back against the sofa. Pidge snorted, clicking the console off before shifting over to the shelves to browse through their DVDs.  
“Damn you’re trash,” she said idly.  
“They’re Lances,” Keith replied automatically.  
Pidge shot him a completely unimpressed look.  
“Don’t believe you,” Pidge replied, “You forget I’ve seen your book collection you closet romantic.”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Keith shrugged, feeling his face warm up.  
“Of course not, it’s not like you cried when Lance bought you a dozen red roses are anything.”  
“You must be thinking of someone else,” Keith shrugged.  
Pidge hummed, “Which one’s your favourite then?”  
“Absolutely none, bottomshelffarright,” Keith said.  
Pidge grinned, pulling out the DVD.  
“Well, let’s take a look then shall we?” she said, “I’ve never seen this one.”

“No! They belong together! Why!? Why would that happen!?” Pidge yelled at the screen.  
“Because of…”  
“I know why! But, why?” she cut him off.  
“Now who’s the closet romantic,” Keith snorted.  
She punched him in the arm.  
“I appreciate a good move, romantic or otherwise,” Pidge rolled her eyes.  
“Well, just be ready,” Keith nodded.  
“Why what happens?” Pidge said, looking alarmed, “Keith, what happens?”  
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”  
“You’re an ass you know that.”

“Of fucking course, of course he died!” Pidge exclaimed, “I don’t know what I was expecting.”  
Keith sniffed slightly, the movie still had the ability to make his eyes burn.  
“You know what, which one is the trashiest with the happiest ending, I need cheering up,” Pidge grumbled.  
“You’ll complain the whole way through about how unrealistic it is,” Keith said, standing up.  
“I don’t care, that’s better than this! Urgh! You’re making me feel things you monster,” Pidge grumbled.  
“Here, it’s the trashiest thing I own,” Keith said, pulling one out and wandering back over, “Unless you fancy raiding Lance’s collection.”  
“Somehow, I’m pretty sure yours is trashier,” Pidge shrugged.

Keys jingled in the lock, both Keith and Pidge were too absorbed in the movie to pay attention.  
“Oh man, this is my favourite part,” Lance said from behind them.  
Both Pidge and Keith jumped, causing Lance to laugh.  
“Your faces,” he giggled.  
“You drunk Lance?” Pidge asked idly.  
“No, at least, I don’t think so?” Lance frowned, “Allura kept buying me shots and Hunk kept taking them away.”  
He swayed slightly in place, it looked like Allura was more successful than Hunk.  
Pidge snorted, “Well, that’s my que, I’ll see you later Keith, bye Lance.”  
“Bye Pidge!” Lance said brightly, face breaking into a smile.  
“You have fun with that,” she said, patting him on the shoulder.  
“Come on, I’ll get you a glass of water,” Keith sighed slightly, tugging Lance’s arm.  
Lance hummed, snuggling closer.  
“I love you, you look after me so well, you’re so caring Keith, you’re the best.”  
“Remember that in the morning when I wake you up,” Keith laughed.

****

Keith stretched, winching at the sore pull of his back and ass. Knots were great during heat, they satisfied him like nothing else. But god did it hurt afterwards. There was still the slight simmer of heat under his skin, but it was light enough that he could just ignore it. Lance was still fast asleep, pressed against Keith’s back. Snuggling closer, Keith started to purr in satisfaction. Lance’s arm tightened around him for a second before he relaxed again, soft puffs of breath against Keith’s sensitive bonding mark.

He knew the moment the alpha woke up, stretching before nuzzling forward to lick and nibble at his bond mark. Keith moaned lightly, his cock starting to harden as Lance nuzzled him.  
“Fuck, Lance you ass,” Keith grumbled, “You’re getting me all worked up.”  
Lance hummed behind him, hand slipping down Keith’s him to rub lightly at his growing erection. Keith jerked forward automatically, but Lance’s had slipped away before he could get any satisfaction.  
“Lance!” Keith cried out in protest.  
“What do you want me to do? Hmm?” Lance said, softly.  
Leaning his head back against Lance’s shoulder, Keith sighed slightly.  
“I don’t know,” Keith groaned, “My ass hurts, I don’t really want to move.”

Lance slipped away from him, rolling Keith onto his back. Nuzzling into the crook of his neck, Lance slid down his body, running his tongue over his nipple. Spreading his legs so Lance could lay between them, Keith let out a long breath as Lance’s face became level with his crotch.  
“Lance,” he breathed, “Please, I need you.”  
Lance grinned, lightly grasping his dick running his thumb over the head. Keith yelped, hips jerking unintentionally. Keith shuddered, whimpering slightly.  
“Still so sensitive,” Lance cooed softly.  
Dropping his head, Lane ran his tongue from base to tip. Letting out a soft high-pitched ah! Keith covered his eyes. Lance laughed softly, the puff of air making him shudder. He nipped slightly at the sensitive skin of Keith’s thighs, over the hickeys littering them.  
“Lance,” Keith grumbled, grabbing Lance’s hair, guiding him up to his dick.  
“Alright, alright,” Lance said.  
Pinning Keith’s hips to the bed, Lance took his dick into his mouth. Keith’s eyes dropped closed, head falling back and hips trying to jerk up. He was brought to the edge alarmingly fast, the residues of heat making him extra-sensitive. He began to pant, chanting Lance’s name over and over again.  
“Lance, Lance m’close,” Keith warned, hips jerking.  
Lance hummed, causing Keith to shudder unintentionally. Lance bobbed his head a couple more times, before swallowing Keith right to the base of his cock. That did it. With a yell, Keith came.

Lance swallowed, pulling back when Keith began to wine from oversensitivity. He sat back on his heels, cock hard with a smirk on his face.  
“Good?”  
Keith blinked at him damn cocky face, deciding now was a good time to move. Sitting up, he slid down to where Lance was. Grasping his erection, Keith jerked him off with well-practiced rapid flicks of his wrist. Lance moaned.  
“You don’t have too,” he muttered, burying his face in Keith’s neck.  
“I want to,” Keith replied.  
Lance made soft punched-out noises of pleasure, hips jerking into Keith’s hand. Keith hummed, reaching up his other hand to scratch through Lance’s hair.  
“Feeling good?”   
Lance moaned in reply, sinking his teeth into Keith’s shoulder. He didn’t bite hard enough to draw blood, it was more of a pressure than anything. Keith made a startled noise as Lance seemed to swell bigger in his hand, past normal erection and into rut erection territory. That was, not normal. There was no way Keith was producing enough heat pheromones for Lance to knot, but it seemed like he was about too.

“Shit,” Lance hissed, “No, no, no.”  
He slapped Keith’s hands away, making a slight sting of rejection run through him. Lance didn’t seem to be focusing on him though, instead he was gripping the base of his cock where his knot was steadily expanding. It didn’t take long for Lance to cum, hard and a lot.   
“Damn, that hadn’t happened since I was a teenager,” Lance grumbled, “Urgh, I forgot how much that ached.”  
“Should we be worried?” Keith asked, rubbing Lance’s shoulder.  
“Nah,” Lance shook his head, “As long as it goes down and I don’t have another it’ll be fine.”  
Keith nodded, before his curiosity took hold. He’d never seen Lance’s knot, as it was always buried in his ass, and he had wondered what one looked like in real life. How the ever-loving hell did that fit inside him, it was huge, no wonder his ass hurt so much.  
“Like what you see?” Lance said, stupid sleezy smirk on his face.  
“That thing is never coming near me again,” Keith said, expression flat.  
“Keith,” Lance wined, drawing out the vowels.

****

Keith was not a religious man, but if praying would get his test results to be normal, he wouldn’t hesitate. But, from the way Coran was flitting around, frowning deeply, no such luck. Coran hummed, holding some paperwork, stroking his moustache.  
“Interesting,” he hummed, “You spent this heat with Lance correct?”  
“Yes?” Keith replied, leaning back a little.  
“Well, congratulations are in order m’boy,” Coran smiled, “It would appear you are expecting.”  
Keith’s brain stopped functioning.   
“I’m what?”  
“You’re pregnant!” Coran said brightly.

Everything crashed down around him, the meaning of Coran’s words finally hitting him. He was pregnant, he was going to have a baby. Holy shit, him and Lance were going to be parents. Oh god, Lance. They hadn’t even discussed the possibility of children, Keith had been avoiding the topic. He did like kids, Lance’s nieces and nephews were lovely, but having his own. Being responsible for a whole other life, one that was currently growing inside him.

Coran’s warm hand rested on his shoulder, snapping him out of his haze.  
“It’s very early on, what I suggest is that you talk to Lance,” he said, patting his shoulder.  
“I, um, yeah,” Keith nodded, slipping off the bed.  
“I’ll see you in a few weeks for a scan, if you have any questions, you know where I am,” he smiled.  
“I, yeah, thank you Coran,” Keith said.  
“No problem,” the older man smiled, “It’s very exciting, children.”  
“I guess,” Keith muttered.  
“It’ll be alright,” Coran smiled, “Lance loves you and he loves kids, everything will work out.”  
“I hope you’re right,” Keith said softly.  
“Trust me, I am very wise,” Coran said seriously.”  
Keith smiled at him, “Alright.”  
“Good, now off you go, isn’t this supposed to be your day off?” Coran continued.

****

Shutting the door to the apartment, Keith smiled as Red sprinted at him, meowing.  
“Hey girl,” he said softly.  
“Hey honey,” Lance shouted, probably from the living room.  
“Hi,” Keith replied, surprised at how normal he sounded, even with his heart in his throat.  
Removing his coat and kicking off his shoes, he picked up Red and made his way into the living room. Lance was splayed out on the sofa, in nothing but an oversized hoodie and shorts, hand in a tube of pringles. Keith stared, this man was the father of his baby. Ok, he could do this, no worries, this would be ok.

Shifting around the sofa, Keith waited for Lance to move his feet before flopping down on the cushions beside him. Rotating around, Keith tangled their legs together.  
“You were a while,” Lance said, tilting his head to one side.  
Red padded, rotating in spot before settling down on Keith’s knee.  
“Yeah,” Keith said softly, “I, um.”  
Ok, this was really difficult, how the hell was he supposed to tell him.  
“Keith? You alright?” Lance asked softly, tilting his head to one side.  
“I’m pregnant,” apparently, he was going for just blurt it out.  
“What?” Lance said softly.  
“I’m pregnant, apparently, that’s why I took so long,” Keith said softly, sinking down slightly, “It’s still really early so, I mean you know that, you were there for my heat, so, um, I don’t, I know we haven’t talked about kids, this wasn’t planned and Lance, please say something.”  
“You’re pregnant,” Lance said softly, face completely blank.  
Keith nodded hesitantly.

A massive smile spread across Lance’s face, lighting the entire thing up.  
“We’re going to be parents?” he said softly.  
Keith felt relief flood him at Lance’s smile and the tone of his voice, the alpha was very happy. Keith nodded hesitantly.  
“I mean it’s still early days,” he said softly.  
Lance shifted, removing Blue and Red from both their knees, drawing Keith into a hug.  
“Are you alright?” Lance asked softly.  
“I don’t know,” Keith admitted, snuggling closer to Lance.  
Lance hummed thoughtfully, smoothing his fingers through Keith’s hair.  
“Do, did, you not want kids?” Lance said hesitantly.  
“No, no, that’s not it,” Keith let out a long breath, “I just, I never thought this would happen.”  
Lance hummed, shifting so Keith was cradled against his chest.  
“I’m scared,” Keith admitted softly.  
Lance squeezed him closer.  
“So am I,” Lance said softly, “But I’ve got you, so we’ll be alright.”  
Keith couldn’t stop a light smile, spreading across his face.  
“Sap,” he mumbled.  
“Only for you,” Lance said, Keith could hear the smile in his voice.

Keith was still scared, he was god damn terrified. He wasn’t alone though, he had Lance and there was no one he’d rather do this with. Maybe, just maybe, they could do this, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter than the last two chapters, but the next one is probably going to be a loooooong one...
> 
> Anyway, Keith is a closet hopeless romantic...why? Pretty simple, because I have no life I have created the voltron characters on sims and whenever I leave Keith uncontrolled he either watches romance on the TV or reads romance novels...I mean...whatever floats his boat I guess...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have any questions feel free to ask and check out my tumblr [whitehorsetiger](http://whitehorsetiger.tumblr.com) if you're interested


	11. Family II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance navigate Keith's pregnancy together as best they can, but something is brewing among the richest families.

“Hey, you ok?” Shiro asked, snapping Keith out of his haze.  
“What? Oh, yes sorry, just a bit tired,” he replied, shaking his head.  
“Really? Are you coming down with something? Is your insomnia back?” Shiro asked, immediately going into mother hen mode.  
“Shiro I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep well last night,” Keith shrugged.  
That was the partial truth, unless you count pregnancy as something he was coming down with. He also hadn’t slept well, but that was mostly because he was up very late, or early, vomiting. Morning sickness was kicking his ass. Only Lance, Coran and Allura knew he was pregnant, they were not going to tell anyone else until after his first scan. He was just too worried that something was going to go wrong.   
“Are you sure?” Shiro frowned.  
“Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry,” Keith shook his head.  
“Alright, but you’ll tell me if anything changes right?” Shiro asked.  
“Yes, stop worrying,” Keith sighed.

Keith slumped across Lance’s back, burying his face in the crook of his neck.  
“Both Shiro and Hunk have asked if there’s anything wrong, our friends are too caring,” he grumbled.  
Lance snorted, eyes still focused on his computer.  
“You’re the one who wants to keep it a secret,” he shrugged.  
Keith growled playfully, nipping at Lance’s earlobe. Lance gently knocked their heads together.  
“Oh no, our friends are so nice and concerned about my health, life is so hard,” Lance said.  
Keith rolled his eyes, pushing away from Lance’s back.  
“You know Shiro asked me if you were alright,” Lance continued.  
Keith groaned, tilting his head back.  
“He never believes me when I say I’m ok,” he grumbled.  
“I wonder why,” Lance hummed stroking a fake beard, “I can’t possibly think of a reason, I mean it’s not like you often don’t admit when you’re sick.”  
Lightly punching him in the arm, Keith made his way back around to his desk.  
“Rude,” Lance huffed.

****

Keith jumped slightly as Lance tugged his bottom lip out from under his teeth.  
“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” Lance said softly, resting his hands on Keith’s shoulders.  
Leaning forward, Keith rested their foreheads together. He was nervous, incredibly nervous.  
“Come on, you’re just going to psych yourself out if we wait out here,” Lance said, pulling away.  
Keith nodded, allowing Lance to tug him inside the infirmary.

Coran was very enthusiastic, and it wasn’t making Keith feel any better. He really hated the fact he was feeling that way, he really wished he could be just as excited as Coran, or Lance. Keith couldn’t help but feel that something had to go wrong.  
“Right, everything’s all set up, you ready?” Coran asked, holding the ultrasound probe in one hand.  
Keith intertwined his fingers with Lance’s, taking a deep calming breath.

“Ok, there there’s you pup,” Coran said softly, “Everything looks good, nice strong heartbeat.”  
Keith heard Lance’s sharp inhalation, but he was pretty sure his brain was malfunctioning. It was kind of a greyish blob on the screen, but he could make out the shape, a head and some stubby limbs. A warm arm wrapped around his shoulders, a kiss pressed to his cheek.  
“That’s our pup,” Lance said softly.  
“Yeah,” Keith replied, “And they’re alright.”  
Lance laughed softly, “I told you they would be.”  
“I’ll take a picture for you,” Coran said brightly.  
“Give it to Shiro and see how long it takes him to realise,” Lance said brightly.  
“He’s going to cry,” Keith replied, “But I suppose it would be entertaining.”  
“Let me be there,” Lance said, “Please?”  
“Hmmm, maybe,” Keith drawled.  
“Keith!”

****

“Hey mom,” Keith said.  
He still found it a bit odd to call Krolia ‘mom’, but he felt even stranger calling her Krolia.  
“Hi Keith, you don’t normally call on a Wednesday,” Krolia replied.  
“Ah, no, see, there’s something I need to tell you,” Keith replied, leaning against the kitchen counter.  
He reached out to fuss Red, who was perched on the barstool, swishing her tail.  
“Yes?” Krolia said, “Are you alright?”  
“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Keith shook his head, even if she couldn’t see him, “More than fine actually, I’m, um, I’m pregnant.”  
There was a pause, Keith could hear Lance talking to his family in the other room.  
“I’m going to be a grandmother?” Krolia said softly, shocked.  
“Yeah,” Keith nodded.

Lance was lent against the arm of the sofa, phone to his ear. He was humming and nodding, despite the person on the other end not being able to see him. Keith dropped down next to him, leaning against Lance’s shoulder.  
“She’s been yelling happily over the phone for about an hour,” Lance said quietly.  
Keith smiled lightly, snuggling into Lance’s side.  
“Mom’s excited too,” he replied.  
“It is exciting! Just not shout into my ear for an hour exciting,” Lance said.  
Keith raised an eyebrow, glancing between the phone and Lance.  
“She’s gone to get everyone else, no way I’d say that if she was still on the phone,” Lance grinned.  
Keith pinched him in the side, causing Lance to laugh and wrap an arm around him.   
“I’ll tell her you said that,” Keith said, nuzzling into his shoulder.  
“Nu!” Lance wriggled slightly in place.  
Keith laughed, turning his head to nibble at his neck. Lance giggled louder, trying to squirm away. Keith shuffled closer, Lance shuffled away. They continued like this until Lance fell off with a yelp and a crash.  
“Lance,” Keith said, trying to fight back his laughter.  
Lance groaned, but waved off Keith’s concern.

****

“I brought popcorn!” Pidge yelled as she walked into the apartment.   
“I brought the movies! Hunk added, walking in after with Shay.  
“They wouldn’t let me bring any,” Shiro grumbled.  
“That’s because all your movies are boring,” Allura said, patting his shoulder on the way past.  
“They are really bad,” Lance said.  
“The worst,” Pidge added.  
“I told you,” Keith shrugged.  
“Sorry man,” Hunk said.  
“I hate to say this, but you don’t have the best taste in movies,” Shay said softly.  
Shiro frowned deeply, crossing his arms.  
“You’re all mean.”  
Pidge patted him on the back, “We’re honest.”

Everyone shuffled around, settling down to watch whatever movie they were watching.  
“Um, actually, there’s something we need to tell you,” Keith said.  
“You’re pregnant! Pidge announced.  
Both Keith and Lance froze, looking at each other.  
“Wait…You actually are!? I was just joking!” Pidge said.  
“Yeah, kinda,” Keith shrugged.  
“You guys are…?” Hunk trailed off.  
“We’re going to have a baby!” Lance shouted.

Suddenly everyone was shouting, and Keith found himself pressed up against Lance in the centre of a group hug. He laughed, face pressed against Lance’s chest.  
“There’s a picture of my first scan on the fridge,” Keith said, still slightly muffled.  
Suddenly the group hug disbanded, everyone making their way to the kitchen. Keith tried to pull away but Lance squeezed him closer.  
“Love you,” he said, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  
“Love you too,” Keith replied.  
“I’m going to be an uncle!” Shiro shouted from the kitchen, voice thick with tears.  
Keith and Lance looked at each other, before the two of them cracked up.

****

Keith stared down his chest, letting out a long breath. There was a bump, he had a baby bump. Ever so cautiously, Keith rested a hand on the bump.   
“Do we need to go clothes shopping?” Keith jumped slightly at Lance’s voice from the doorway.  
“Ha,” Keith said dryly, making his way over to the bed where he’d thrown his shirt.  
“Hey,” Lance said softly, walking over to him.  
Keith groaned, leaning back into Lance’s arms as he wrapped them around him. His hands settled on the bump, thumbs brushing over the skin.  
“You alright?” Lance asked softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  
“I’m fine,” Keith muttered, “Just.”  
Idly gesturing to the bump, he sighed.  
“I’m still having a hard time believing this is real.”

Lance hummed, resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder. Suddenly he moved back, spinning Keith around before rapidly pressing kisses all over his face. Keith couldn’t help but smile, catching Lance’s face in his hands to press their lips together.   
“Boop,” Lance said, pressing a finger on his nose.  
Keith pulled away, shaking his head.  
“Dork,” he said, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on.  
“Your dork,” Lance said brightly.  
His shirt just about covered the bump, but he grabbed a baggy hoodie anyway to pull over the top.  
“I made a terrible mistake,” Keith said, resting a hand over his stomach, “Poor thing doesn’t stand a chance.”  
“Rude,” Lance pouted, “Our kid can be nothing but amazing.”  
Keith laughed, but then smiled.  
“Yeah, I guess they will.”

****

Keith settled back into the cushions of the sofa, reading one of his pregnancy books. Maybe, maybe he’d gone a little overboard with the amount of books he’d bought, but he didn’t really care. His belly was steadily growing, morning sickness finally having passed. His hips were also widening, it was a little strange, Lance seemed to love it. Right now, he was laying across the sofa, head by his bump. Lance was talking softly to the baby in Spanish, his hand rested on the bump.

Keith idly flicked over to the next chapter, when he felt it. A light flutter. Keith paused, looking down at his belly. Lance didn’t seem to have noticed anything, it probably was nothing. That was when he felt a kick, right over where Lance’s hand was. Lance jerked back, both of them staring at the bump.  
“Was that?” Lance said.  
“Yeah,” Keith whispered.

Lance’s eyes were wide, he darted forwards again. Hiking up Keith shirt, he rested his hands on Keith’s skin.  
“Hey little one,” Lance said softly, squeaking excitedly as they moved again.  
“Oh,” Keith said softly, trying his hardest to not freak out at the strange feeling.  
“I think they like me,” Lance cooed, resting his cheek on Keith’s belly.  
“It feels strange,” Keith said, resting his own hand beside Lance’s.  
“I bet,” Lance snorted, “But there’s a baby in there, an actual living thing inside you.”  
“Really now?” Keith snorted, “Is there?”  
Lance pouted at him.  
“Your dad is so mean to me, isn’t he? Yes he is.”  
“Hey,” Keith protested with a laugh, “Don’t turn our child against me before they’re even born.”  
Lance blinked up at him, looking as innocent as he could. Keith couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him, Lance started laughing soon after. Apparently the baby liked this, as they started to move a lot. Keith didn’t realise that he’d started purring, the feeling of his unborn pup moving and the joy of his alpha making him unbelievably happy.

****

“Why won’t they move for me?” Shiro complained, glowering at Keith’s belly.  
“Because they just don’t like you,” Pidge said idly.  
“Your pup moves for everyone else,” Shiro grumbled, crossing his arms.  
“Again, they just don’t like you,” Pidge shrugged.  
Keith felt a light kick, his hand automatically going to the area. Shiro stared at him, they didn’t move again.  
“Sorry,” Keith said, “Was just the one kick.”  
Shiro visibly deflated and Keith really did feel sorry for him. Everyone in their pack was very excited for the new member, but Shiro was the only member who was yet to feel them kick.

Lance wandered in with Hunk not long after, gesturing wildly as he talked. Keith suddenly had an idea.  
“Lance,” he called, “Come here.”  
Lance trotted over, head tilted slightly to one side.  
“Yeah?” he asked, “You all right.”  
There was a light flutter of movement at the sound of Lance’s voice, he really was their pups favourite person.  
“Your child isn’t moving for their uncle, he’s upset,” Keith said, “Help us out.”  
“Oh, sure,” Lance shrugged, grabbing Shiro’s hand to rest on the bump, “Ok little one, I want you to move for your uncle ok? He’s very upset that you won’t move.”  
Shiro’s face lit up as they moved, kicking out to where Lance’s voice was.  
“Oh my god,” Shiro whispered, “Wow.”  
“There,” Keith said, “Happy now?”  
Shiro smiled, “Incredibly.”

****

Keith grumbled lightly to himself as he searched through his draw, he really needed to be more organised.  
“Keith,” he stiffened, turning to look at Lotor behind him.  
“Yes?” Keith replied suspiciously.  
“Could I talk to you, privately,” Lotor said hesitantly.  
Keith glanced over to the others, before shrugging.  
“Sure.”

Following Lotor out of the main room and into a small side room, he lent up against the wall.  
“Do you need a chair? Or? Something?” Lotor asked.  
“I’m pregnant, not an invalid,” Keith said, “Could probably still kick your ass.”  
“Yes, of course,” Lotor said, “Look, I need to ask you something.”  
Keith raised an eyebrow, cocking his hip.  
“Go on then.”  
Lotor glanced around nervously, drumming his fingers on his biceps.  
“What are heats like?” Lotor asked.  
Keith paused, blinking.  
“Say again?”  
Lotor grit his teeth, “What are heats like?”  
“You don’t know? How can you not know?” Keith frowned, “How can you not have had a heat?”  
Lotor let out a long breath, it was a bit of a surprise seeing him looking so awkward and nervous.  
“Look, they found out I was an omega long before I presented, I’ve been on suppressants ever since. Coran, recommended, that I go through a heat,” he said, lip curling in displeasure.  
“He’s right,” Keith shrugged, “It’s not pleasant but necessary.”

Lotor looked thoughtful.  
“So heats are unpleasant?”  
Keith sighed, “Why are you asking me about this?”  
“I was told I may be more comfortable discussing this with another omega,” Lotor said.  
Keith sighed, “Then go find another omega and don’t bother me.”  
He turned to leave.  
“Wait,” Lotor called out, “You’re the only omega I want to talk to about this, I’m asking you for help, please.”  
Keith sighed, before turning back to him.  
“I’m not going to sugar coat it,” he said.  
“I don’t want you too.”  
“Fine, get me a chair then, this may take a while and I’m not sitting on the floor,” Keith said.

****

Keith lent against Lance’s side, feet kicked up on the arm of the sofa.  
“Comfortable?” Lance asked, amusement in his voice.  
Keith hummed happily, snuggling closer, resting his hands over where their pup was kicking. They were only getting more and more active and Keith was actually looking forward to his scan tomorrow.

“I don’t want to know the babies sex,” Lance said suddenly.  
Keith blinked his eyes open, tilting his head to look up at Lance.  
“Why?” he asked, tilting his head.  
“I just don’t, I want it to be a surprise,” Lance shrugged.  
“But why?” Keith asked.  
“Because I don’t,” Lance said, “You can if you want to, but I don’t.”  
Keith hummed thoughtfully, rubbing a hand over his belly.  
“Then I won’t either,” he said.  
“You don’t have to…”  
“No, I don’t mind either way and if it makes you happy, I’m ok with having it as a surprise,” Keith replied, “Also, if I knew someone else would find out and it would eventually make its way back to you.”  
“True, as long as you’re sure.”  
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”  
“Good,” Lance said.

****

Keith was horny as all hell, although that wasn’t an unusual state for him now. It really didn’t help how damn sensitive he was now, Lance literally had to just brush his skin and a shudder would run down his spine. Lucky then, Lance was only happy to provide.

Lance yawned as he stepped through the door, Keith following hot on his heels. The second he closed the door, Keith pinned Lance too it, pressing kissed up and down his neck. Well as best as he could with the bump in the way.  
“Oh, hello,” Lance smirked.  
“How dare you be so attractive,” Keith growled, “Sitting there, finding the best plan for us, making sure everyone’s safe.”  
“Wow,” Lance said softly, “Everything gets you going at the minute huh?”  
Keith hummed, biting lightly at his collarbone.  
“I’ve always found it hot,” he said with a growl.  
“Huh,” Lance said.  
Keith grumbled lightly, squeezing his sides. Damn it, Lance needed to stop trying to think and actually get on with it.  
“Oh, sorry kitten,” Lance snapped out of his thoughts, squeezing Keith’s ass appreciatively.

Keith basically bolted to their room, stripping along the way. He could hear Lance following him, his clothes hitting the floor too. Keith was down to his boxers when he reached the bed, moving to prop himself up against the headboard. Lance was stood at the foot of the bed in just his boxers, eyes scanning up and down Keith’s body. He looked ravenous, Keith couldn’t help the flush on his face, or the release of slick.

Lance clambered onto the bed after him, pressing a kiss to the tight skin of his belly, up to his chest, nibbling lightly at the scent glands at the base of his neck, before pressing their lips together.   
“You look so good like this,” Lance growled softly.  
Keith preened at the attention, chirruping lightly. Lance hummed, before thoroughly devouring Keith’s mouth. God, he was too damn sensitive.

Lance’s hands slipped under Keith’s boxers, squeezing before slipping them off. Keith groaned as his erection sprang free, more slick oozing out of his hole. Not only was the pregnancy making him hornier, it also massively upped his slick production.  
“Oh, Kitten, you’re getting so wet for me,” Lance purred softly.  
Keith slid down slightly, “Well do something about it then.”  
Lance grinned, slipping off his own boxers before crawling back up to Keith.  
“Alright honey, I gotchu,” he said, pressing kisses to Keith’s eyelids.  
Keith kissed him soundly on the lips. Lance knelt up between Keith’s legs, dipping his fingers down to probe at his hole.

Keith planted his feet wider as Lance pushed one finger in easily, thrusting and twisting. Keith groaned lightly, tipping his head back.  
“Feel good?” Lance said.  
“Mmm, you’re going too slow,” Keith grumbled lightly.  
“Am I?” Lance hummed, twisting his hand.  
He slipped his finger out, before slipping two in. Keith sighed, letting his eyes slipped closed. His earlier urgency had faded slightly, pleasure simply simmering under his skin. The easy relaxed way Lance could work his body and pull pleasure from him, made Keith melt. Didn’t mean he would admit that though.  
“Come on, I’m falling asleep,” he said.  
Lance growled playfully, pressing a third finger in. Keith moaned as it brushed past his prostate.   
“Still sleepy?”  
Keith gave an exaggerated yawn.  
“Hmm, if you’re too sleepy, we can stop,” Lance shrugged.  
“Sure,” Keith said, pressing a foot to Lance’s erection, “You can stop if you want too.”  
They stated at each other, waiting for the other to crack. Both of them snorted at the same time, laughing as Lance thrust, twist and spread his fingers.

It wasn’t as easy manoeuvring with his heavy belly in the way, but he rolled over to prop himself up onto his hands and knees. Lance groaned, resting his hands appreciatively on Keith’s ass and giving it a squeeze.  
“Lance, don’t tease,” Keith grumbled.   
“Sorry, sorry,” Lance said, “Just.”  
He squeezed one last time, before pressing his cock against Keith’s hole.  
“Yes,” Keith said, pressing his hips back slightly.  
Lance hummed, pressing his hips forward. Keith moaned as he pressed inside.

Keith moaned as Lance thrust forward, pushing back onto Lance’s hips. They’d very quickly built up a rapid rhythm, reducing Keith into a moaning mess in no time. Driving his hips back against Lance’s, Keith tilted his head back.  
“Lance, yes, harder!” Keith shouted.  
Lance grunted in acknowledgement, driving his hips harder. He angled his hips slightly, striking Keith’s prostate dead on. Keith cried out, arms shaking as he supported himself. Lance groaned, deep and throaty. Damn, Keith was unbelievably close.  
“Lance, Lance, close,” he hissed.  
“Yeah, ok, hang on,” Lance grunted.  
His hand dipped down, sliding down Keith’s hip to grasp his dick. It only took a couple of jerks of Lance’s wrist before Keith was cumming, Lance following soon after.

Keith lent comfortably against the headboard, clean from his shower but still completely naked. His eyes were focused on his belly, where their pup was moving around enthusiastically. His skin was distorting as they moved, rippling as they turned. It was really strange, but oddly fascinating.

The shower shut off, Lance padding into the bedroom not long after. He smiled, collapsing in bed and nuzzling up to Keith’s belly. He hummed happily, pressing kissed to the stretched skin. There was a kick were Lance’s face was, causing him to coo happily.  
“You enjoying yourself?” Keith asked, chucking as he blew a raspberry.  
“Not my fault you look so good with my pup inside you,” Lance growled lightly.   
Keith groaned, burying his face in his hands. His scent gave him away though, it was light and incredibly pleased. Lance rumbled softly, pulling his hands away from his face, pressing kisses all over.  
“Hey cutie,” Lance cooed happily.  
“Urgh,” Keith replied, pushing his face away with a hand on his face.  
Lance laughed, licking Keith’s palm where he had it over his mouth.  
“You’re disgusting,” Keith grumbled, pulling his hand away.  
Lance growled playfully, curling up with his head on Keith’s chest.

Keith started purring after a minute, running his fingers through Lance’s hair. Lance looked like he was about to doze off, snugging closer. Keith chirruped softly, moving his other hand to rub a thumb against his ribs.  
“Comfortable?” Lance said softly.  
“Incredibly,” Keith murmured, tugging lightly at Lance’s ear.  
Lance grumbled lightly, turning to bury his face in Keith’s neck.  
“You smell good,” he said.  
“Do I?” Keith smiled, “Get some sleep Lance.”  
Lance hummed, “Ok.”  
“Night,” Keith said softly.  
Lance had fallen asleep, deep slow breaths puffing across his skin. Keith rubbed his hand over Lance’s shoulder.  
“Love you,” he said.

****

Keith lent back, surprisingly enjoying the feeling of the rocking chair.  
“I’m never getting up again,” he said with a long sigh.  
“Comfortable?” Lance smiled from his place on the floor.  
Keith nodded, “Very.”  
Lance snorted, rustling the instructions for constructing the crib. He was actually doing really well, it was almost completely finished. In fact, the entire nursery was almost finished. They’d finished painting it ages ago, Keith had possibly gone overboard but it was Lance’s fault. He’d said paint what you want. So Keith had the ocean, full of all different types of fish and a couple of sharks. The ceiling was a sunny sky with some birds. Now all was left was the furniture.

“There!” Lance said, “How does that look?”  
Keith groaned, clambering to his feet. He circled the crib, looking at it as best he could with his limited bending down ability.  
“Looks good, as long as the entire thing doesn’t collapse, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Keith smiled.  
Lance grinned back, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  
“Nice, I’ll get working on everything else then,” he said brightly.

It took a few days, mostly because both of them had work. But standing in the doorway, Keith had to admit, the nursery was beautiful. Bright and airy with everything an infant could possibly need and then some. Dressers with tiny onesies with a stuffed toy lion, a gift from Lance’s mama, on top of it.  
“Ok, I admit, maybe I went overboard,” Lance laughed awkwardly from behind him.  
“It’s amazing,” Keith said softly, “I love it so much.”  
“Yeah?” Lance said brightly.  
Keith lent back against Lance, tilting his head back to look at him.  
“I doubt my nursery was as nice as this,” Keith said.  
Lance hummed, pressing a kiss to Keith’s temple.  
“I’m happy,” Keith continued, “This is just, incredible.”  
“Glad you like it,” Lance said brightly.  
“Yeah, I mean, that painting is amazing,” Keith nodded.  
Lance huffed, pulling away.  
“Ass,” he said.  
Keith laughed, following after him.

****

God, this kid was getting heavy. Keith’s back and feet were aching, and they were becoming more and more active as time went on. Lance had taken to singing to the bump before they went to bed, settling the baby down for a while. But, Lance was currently at work and wouldn’t be back until really late. Keith didn’t much like being in the flat alone at this point, he needed his mate here with him, now. He could ignore those instincts for now though, instead just snuggling the hell out of Lance when he came home.

Padding through to the kitchen, Keith yawned, tugging down his sleep shirt slightly. He froze at the sound of the lock. Lance wasn’t due back for at least an hour, he hadn’t texted that he would be early either. He didn’t normally surprise Keith with something like this. Keith’s entire spine stiffened. The door burst open, it was not Lance.

Keith could not move fast in this state, he couldn’t fight particularly well either. But like hell if he would let them touch him, or hurt his baby. Luckily, he managed to shout for help before they got anywhere near him. They also clearly weren’t expecting him to fight back, or for Red and Blue to come flying at them, all tiny claws and teeth. Keith wasn’t expecting the cats to attack either, the two of them yowling as they were kicked. Keith managed to break one of the assailant’s noses, but wasn’t so lucky with the other.

They managed to grab his arm, twisting his arm to try and force him to the ground. Shiro had taken him to self-defence classes though, so Keith kicked at his leg to unbalance him. Unfortunately, they worked out he was capable of fighting back almost immediately. So were incredibly quick to subdue him. As they forced him down, Keith was very careful to keep his belly protected as best he could. Snarling, Keith tried to wriggle free, but they twisted his arms painfully.  
“We don’t need the pup to complete this mission, so I suggest you stop fighting,” one of them growled.  
Keith didn’t know if they were lying or not, but he didn’t know what would happen if he went with them. The decision was taken out of his hands as a couple of people charged through the door.

His arms were released as the alpha that had just burst through the door punched one of the assailants. Keith scrambled away from them as quickly as he could, fear having taken over his ferocious protective instincts. A pair of hands reached down to him and Keith almost lashed out, until he recognised the scent. It was the lovely omega lady from a couple of doors down, him and Lance had helped her out with her groceries and kids a couple of times.  
“It’s going to be ok,” she said softly, “We’ve called the police they’ll be here soon.”  
Keith did not find that particularly reassuring, as he was fully aware of how deep the corruption went. But, they would do for now.

****

The police and an ambulance arrived, the latter insisting on taking Keith to hospital to check on his pup. Keith wanted to wait until Lance returned, but they were insistent. He was too exhausted to argue much. The omega asked if he wanted her to go with him, Keith waved her off, she had a family to check on, he’d be fine. Probably.

He answered the questions as best he could, trying his hardest to pay attention to what the doctors were telling him. He managed to pay attention enough to know that him and his pup, were just fine.  
“Keith?” A familiar voice called out.  
Keith’s head snapped around to the voice that sounded from the doorway. There was a nurse and,  
“Lance,” Keith called out in relief.  
He scrambled to his feet, staggering forwards into Lance’s arms. The alpha was practically radiating anger, but softened as Keith collapsed in his arms.  
“Keith, honey, are you alright?” he asked, rubbing up and down Keith’s back.  
“We’re ok,” Keith mumbled, “We’re ok.”  
Everything became too much, Keith couldn’t help the sob that escaped him. Burying his face in Lance’s neck, he started to cry. Lance seemed to soften even more.  
“It’s ok, I’ve got you, I’m right here, you’re ok, you’re both ok,” he said softly.

It took a while for Keith to be released from hospital, they were very reluctant to let him go. Lance was insistent though and Keith really did want to leave, the smell was too sterile and he wanted to be back with his pack. Finally though, he was discharged and bundled into Lance’s car. The apartment was too risky, so they headed for headquarters.

Shiro wrapped him up in a hug as he stepped through the door, Keith slumped against him slightly.  
“Geez,” Hunk said from behind them, “You guys ok?”  
Lance groaned, “As well as we can be.”  
Keith moved away from Shiro to lean against Lance again, burying his face in his neck. Lance’s arm curled around his waist, resting on his hip.  
“Damn,” Pidge whispered, “I checked, there weren’t any breaches.”  
Lance shook his head, “Probably wasn’t anything to do with Voltron.”  
He tugged Keith’s hip slightly, guiding him along.

They settled in the break room, Keith bundled up in blankets, Lance on one side, Shiro on the other. Keith curled into Lance’s side, hand protectively on his belly.  
Allura sighed slightly, “Family matters?”  
Lance hummed softly, “Most likely.”  
“Family matters?” Shiro grumbled, almost a growl, “Keith was attacked, we need a better reason than family matters.”  
“It’s a power play,” Allura sighed, “There are two ways to make business deals, either a legitimate above the table deal, or blackmail.”  
“Kidnapping is a surprisingly common practice,” Lance said, “It’s one of the reasons I moved away.”  
“As Keith is relatively unharmed, it’s the most likely reason,” Allura said, rubbing her temples.  
Lance’s chest rumbled lightly with a growl, his grip becoming almost painful on Keith’s shoulder.  
“So, what now?” Shiro asked.  
“We need to get Keith and Lance to a safe house, at least until the baby is born,” Allura nodded, “Or, we bring down the family that tried to kidnap him.”  
“I’ll ask around, try and find out which family it’s likely to be,” Lance said, “Meanwhile, I think I know a place we can say for a while. So Keith, how do you fancy staying with my sister?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly can't believe how much support this fic has gained, it really is amazing.
> 
> Once again, if there is anything you're unsure about feel free to ask and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	12. Family III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance travel to Veronica's, have a baby and try to destroy the social structure of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a birth scene in this chapter, it's not too graphic in my opinion but then again you may have a different one...just to warn you

Keith was exhausted, mentally, physically, he was just done. Lance was trying to organise things for them, but Keith was not really making it easy. In other words, he’d pinned Lance down so he could curl up by his side and try to sleep. Everyone was shifting in and out of the room, talking rather loudly. It also didn’t help that their pup wouldn’t settle, shifting around and kicking out. All hope of getting some sleep ended when Lance lightly shook his shoulder.  
“We need to get moving, you can sleep in the car,” he said softly.  
Keith grumbled lightly, but allowed Lance to help him to his feet.

To his own surprise, Keith did doze off in the car. Resting at a not very comfortable angle against the window. He woke up a few hours later, blinking in the early-morning light. They pulled over for the toilet and to grab some breakfast. After his sleep, Keith was feeling better. The two of them sat in the car, doors open to let in air, eating sandwiches.  
“How far away does Veronica live?” Keith asked softly.  
“A while away, we should get there by this evening,” Lance said, reaching out to take Keith’s hand.  
Intertwining their fingers, Keith gave them a squeeze.  
“Will you be alright driving for that long?”   
“I had a nap back in headquarters and,” Lance idly shook his coffee cup, “I’ll be fine.”  
“As long as we don’t die horribly in a car crash,” Keith said.  
“We won’t,” Lance shrugged, “You ready to go?”

****

They wove through picturesque villages, seeming to get further and further away from civilisation. Keith watched as the pretty scenery flew past, hand resting on his bump. The sky was lit up with brilliant colours as Lance slowed to turn down a small lane.  
“Almost there,” he said.  
Keith nodded, “Alright.”  
“You’ll like it there,” Lance continued, “It’s a bit out in the middle of nowhere but really nice.”  
Keith hummed, turning to look over at Lance.  
“Middle of nowhere?” he asked softly.  
“They have a lot of grounds too, we get our own little house and everything,” Lance continued, “Veronica says we can borrow her children’s old bassinette for while we’re there.”  
“Yeah?” Keith said, “Sounds nice.”  
“It should be, for a little while anyway,” Lance nodded.  
Keith tilted his head to one side, smiling lightly.  
“Like you couldn’t picture yourself living in the suburbs,” he said.  
“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s not like I picture white picket fences, playgrounds, day-care and school catchment areas,” Lance said with a shrug.  
Keith hummed, “Of course not, but maybe include me in these not thoughts next time.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Yeah, especially the ones where we move,” Keith said, “And the day-care ones.”  
“You’d want to live in the suburbs?” Lance asked.  
“Maybe,” Keith said, “We’ll see.”

They pulled up in front of a large iron gate in a brick wall, Lance pulled out his phone.  
“Hey Vee, mind letting me in?”  
He hummed as she talked, rolling his eyes on occasion.   
“Because I have a very pregnant omega in my car? You wouldn’t be that mean to Keith now would you?” Lance said, pouting.  
Keith raised an eyebrow, shaking his head slightly. The gate started to creek open.  
“Thank you favourite sister!” Lance said brightly, before immediately hanging up on her.  
“She’s going to kick your ass, isn’t she?” Keith asked.  
“More than likely,” Lance shrugged, setting off down the drive.

Keith didn’t know what to expect from Veronica’s house, but a very beautiful brick house with large flowering bushes and flowers at the front would have probably been it. Veronica was stood outside, arms crossed. Lance pulled up, killed the engine and clambered out.  
“I’m your only sister you big dork!” she yelled, pulling Lance into a headlock.  
Keith hauled himself out of the car, stumbling slightly before regaining his balance. Lance was laughing, wriggling in his sister’s hold. He could probably break out of the headlock easily, the two of them were laughing and yelling at each other.

“Keith!” Lance said brightly, “Come say hey!”  
“Hi Keith!” Veronica said lightly, “It’s nice to finally meet you, in person.”  
Keith smiled, “Hi.”  
“Oh, he’s so cute!” Veronica said, “How did your looser ass land such a cutie?”  
Lance pouted, “Rude.”  
“I ask myself that every day,” Keith shrugged.  
“That’s just mean, you’re both so mean to me,” Lance grumbled.  
Veronica laughed, ruffling Lance’s hair.  
“Come on, I’ll show you around.”

The house was rustic, farm-style and very pretty. It was like something out of a picture book. They were introduced to Veronica’s six-year-old twins and her omega husband. It was nice, Veronica was similar to Lance in many ways, between the two of them they carried most of the conversation. Keith sat beside Lance, tucked comfortably under his arm. It was relaxing, finally allowing the last of the tension drain from his shoulders. They were safe here, they should be safe here.

Hunk and Shay had packed their bags for them, so they had everything they needed for a couple of weeks. Unzipping one of the duffle bags, Keith stared at the tiny onesies, bibs, shoes and socks.   
“Oh! They packed the presents!” Lance said brightly.  
“Presents?” Keith asked, turning to him.  
Lance nodded, “Yeah, for your baby shower.”  
“Baby shower?” Keith tilted his head to one side.  
“It was going to be a surprise,” Lance grumbled, “But we can still open the presents?”  
“Sure,” Keith said, sitting down on the bed, “Bring them over.”  
Lance wandered over with several brightly-coloured packages and bags.  
“Wow,” Keith said softly.  
“Everyone was very excited,” Lance nodded.  
“Looks like,” Keith smiled, “There are so many!”  
“Everyone wanted to get involved,” Lance laughed.

There were so many presents, small clothes, lots of cuddly toys and a very pretty cat mobile from Allura.  
“This one’s from your mom,” Lance said, holding one out.  
The package jingled as he grabbed it.  
“Rattle?” Lance asked.  
“Probably,” Keith nodded.  
He pulled the wrapping away, revealing the box underneath.  
“Come on, I’m on the edge of my seat,” Lance said, bouncing slightly on the bed.  
Keith laughed lightly, shaking his head as he opened the top of the box. The rattle was pretty old-looking, and oddly familiar. There was a picture underneath.  
“Aww! Look how cute you were!” Lance said, pulling the picture out.  
Keith scoffed, snatching the picture out of Lance’s hand.  
“I look like a baby,” Keith said.  
He was very young in the picture, with a thick mop of black hair, bright eyes wide open staring at whoever was taking the picture. Clutched in his tiny tubby fist was the rattle.  
“Cute,” Lance said brightly, pressing a kiss to Keith’s cheek.  
“Yeah,” Keith said, studing the rattle.

****

“Every time I think I can retire, you McClains just keep breeding. You’re like rabbits.”  
The midwife who’d delivered Veronica’s twins was sixty-something, short and an omega. She didn’t seem all too happy with having to deliver another baby.  
“My daughter takes over and I retire to the country, that doesn’t stop you, new law comes in saying omegas can no longer in be doctors, that doesn’t stop you,” she said.  
Lance snorted, “Don’t pretend you don’t love it.”  
She whacked Lance on the arm, hard, causing him to yelp and laugh.  
“You haven’t changed since you were a baby, wouldn’t shut up then either.”  
Keith laughed as Lance protested, glowering between the two of them.

“This is your first, right?” she asked, looking at Keith.  
Keith nodded, nibbling his lip lightly.  
“Well it’s probably going to be a while,” she said, “First babies tend to be a bit slow and I don’t think this one is going to be any different.”  
“Really?” Keith groaned, pulling a face.  
She chuckled lightly, “Yeah, looks like you’re going to be like that for a bit yet.”  
Lance’s hand ran through Keith’s hair, pressing to massage the back of his neck.  
“Looks like we’ll have to manage,” he said.  
“Easy for you to say,” Keith grumbled, jabbing vaguely in Lance’s direction until he hit flesh.  
“So you’re looking good, seem to have adapted to pregnancy really well. Give me a call if you have any concerns,” she said.  
“Thanks,” Keith said softly.

****

‘For a bit yet,’ felt like forever. His feet and back ached and he just felt heavy and uncomfortable. Lance did his best to help, rubbing his back and ankles but it only helped a little. Sleeping was a nightmare, it was impossible to get comfortable and even when he was he had to get up to pee what felt like all the time and the pup insisted on kicking him whenever he got comfortable.

He lay against the pillows and the head of the bed, eyes closed as Lance rubbed his feet. The alpha seemed to know just what to do, where to rub to get the most relief. The pup was particularly active, not happy at being in such a cramped space.  
“Well hurry up and you can have all the space you want,” Keith grumbled, rubbing the tight skin.  
“They kicking again?” Lance asked, rolling his ankle.  
Keith hummed in affirmation, stretching his toes idly. Lance crawled up to lay beside Keith, resting his hand on the bump.  
"Why don’t you let your dad get some rest huh?” he said softly.  
“Why don’t you hurry up and be born,” Keith grumbled.  
Lance laughed, pressing a kiss to Keith’s neck.  
“You know, I read that sex can trigger labour,” Keith said, snuggling closer.  
“Yeah?” Lance asked.  
“Yeah,” Keith hummed.

****

It was lucky that Veronica had given them their own little separate bungalow, with the amount of sex him and Lance were having. It wasn’t working all that well, but Keith wasn’t giving up. Partly because it may help and partly because it felt incredibly good.

Keith had gone through the whole day, a slight pain shooting through his abdomen every so often. He wrote it off, the Braxton Hicks he’d been suffering from. Him and Lance settled down that night, to watch a movie. He winced at the tightening of his abdomen, followed by a sharp kick to somewhere around his kidney. Keith froze, frowning slightly. That was painful and, thinking about it, the tightening had been pretty regular. No way.  
“Lance, I think I’m in labour,” he said.

It seemed to take Lance a minute to register, but his head suddenly snapped around.  
“What?”  
“I think I might be in labour, I’m not sure though,” Keith frowned down at his belly.  
“You’re not sure?” Lance said, voice squeaking slightly.  
“No?” Keith said, “I think so though.”  
“Ok?” Lance tilted his head to one side, “So?”  
“Well, it’s not too bad yet and I’m still unsure, so, we wait?” Keith said.  
“Right,” Lance nodded, “You’re really calm about this.”  
“I don’t know if it’s actual labour,” Keith shrugged, “No reason to get worked up.”  
“Alright,” Lance let out a long breath, “Come here then.”  
Keith nodded, tucking himself into Lance’s side.

A couple of hours later and yes, it was definitely labour and yes, it was painful. Keith was pacing the bedroom as they waited for the midwife to arrive. He groaned as another contraction hit, hunching over slightly. Lance was hovering awkwardly, bouncing from foot to foot.  
“Stand still,” Keith snapped, glaring at him.  
“Sorry,” Lance muttered, crossing his arms.  
Keith let out a long breath, standing up straight as the contraction eased. He walked over to where Lance was stood, resting slightly against him.  
“Hey,” Lance said softly.  
Keith hummed, looking up at him. Lance rubbed their noses together, causing Keith to smile lightly.

“Ok, she’ll be here in five minutes,” Veronica said, sticking her head around the doorway, “Is that alright?”  
“Kid’s not going to drop out in the next five minutes,” Keith rolled his eyes.  
“Vee, you’re freaking out,” Lance said, shaking his head.  
“Yes! Your mate is giving birth, why shouldn’t I be?”  
“Because you’ve literally given birth, twice,” Lance pointed out.  
Keith rocked on his feet slightly, trying to get the pup to drop lower.  
“It’s very different being the one giving birth and the one stood waiting and helping,” Veronica said.  
“You are just as bad as Marco,” Lance laughed.  
“You take that back,” Veronica said.  
Keith groaned suddenly, another contraction taking hold.  
“I’ll go look out for her,” Veronica said, vanishing from her place by the door.  
“Chicken!” Lance yelled after her.

 

****

 

What seemed like forever later, everything was happening so much faster. He was laid back in bed now, gritting his teeth and groaning at every forceful contraction.  
“Ah,” he said eyes widening, “My water broke.”  
“What?” Lance said.  
“His water broke,” the midwife said, “Looks like we’re getting close.”  
Keith hissed and swore as another contraction hit, gritting his teeth and groaning.   
“Very close.”

Pressure, pain and the undeniable need to push. Keith was probably crushing Lance’s fingers to dust, but he didn’t really care. All he knew was that he needed to get this kid out, now.  
“Ok, breathe, breathe,” the midwife said.  
Keith panted, dropping back to lay against the pillows. He barely had any reprise before he had to push again.

Keith didn’t really know how long he had been pushing for, or how much longer he had to keep going. He was just in so much pain and incredibly exhausted. Panting roughly, trying desperately to breathe through the pain. Pushing with the next contraction, Keith yelled.  
“That’s it, I can see the head.”  
As useful as that was to know, Keith tuned her out, focusing instead on trying to push their child out.   
“Head’s out.”  
Keith panted, shaking with exertion. Lance was rubbing his shoulder, with the had that Keith wasn’t currently trying to break.  
“Just a little more,” he said.  
“Fuck off Lance,” Keith snarled, “I figured, thanks.”  
Not much longer, just a bit more work and he’d be able to see their child. It was that thought that pushed him through the pain, gave him the drive to keep going.  
“Nearly there, nearly there,” she said, “Here they come.”  
A baby’s cry filled the room, Keith slumped against the pillows. Crying was good, crying meant they were breathing.  
“Congratulations, you have a daughter.”

****

Keith was exhausted and sore, but he just couldn’t look away from the small bundle in his arms. She was beautiful and so warm, small chubby cheeks and a slightly upturned nose. It was amazing how much like Lance she looked, it seemed like all Keith had contributed to her looks was her surprisingly thick black hair. He knew her baby-blue eyes could change colour, he hoped they wouldn’t.

The door to the bedroom creaked open, Keith’s head snapped to the doorway. Lance padded in, looking ruffled and exhausted. Keith didn’t even want to think what he looked like.  
“Hey,” Lance said softly, “Says she’ll be back tomorrow to check up on you two, best thing now is to get some rest.”  
Keith nodded, looking back down at their daughter. He could hear Lance moving around the room, shifting to the other side of the bed. It dipped with his weight and Keith lent towards him instinctively. Lance’s hand reached over, pulling down the blanket slightly to look at her face, rubbing a finger against her cheek.  
“God, she’s amazing, you’re amazing, how did I get so lucky,” Lance said.  
Keith looked up at him, then back to their daughter in his arms.  
“You’re the lucky one?” he said softly.  
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he nuzzled her hair.

“Can I hold her?” Lance asked.  
“Of course,” Keith mumbled, “She’s your daughter too.”  
She barely stirred as she was transferred to Lance’s arms, settling almost instantly.  
“Oh,” Lance breathed, his eyes getting watery.  
Keith smiled, feeling his own eyes starting to burn.  
“Hey beautiful,” Lance said softly, “I’m your papa.”  
That did it for Keith, tears overflowing even as he tried to stop them. Lance pressed kisses all over her face, scenting her thoroughly. Keith’s chest rumbled with a purr, his eyes slipping closed unintentionally.  
“Do you think the name we picked out suits her?” Lance said suddenly, causing Keith to jump slightly.  
Keith looked at the bundle, nestled and safe in Lance’s arms.  
“Yeah,” Keith smiled, “I think it does.”  
“Nice to finally meet you Stella,” Lance whispered.

****

Stella may have been small, but she had a big pair of lungs. She also needed a lot of attention, apparently it wasn’t just her looks she’d inherited from Lance.

Keith groaned, blinking awake slowly. Rolling onto his side, he checked the clock. Sitting bolt upright, he did a double take. Stella had woken them up bright and early that morning, as usual, Lance had patted his back though and said he’d do it. That had been three hours ago. Keith scrambled out of bed, dressed quickly and went to search for his mate and daughter.

They weren’t in the bungalow, so he made his way over to the main house. Veronica and Lance were in the living room, a soap on very quietly in the background. Stella was rested on Lance’s chest, fast asleep as he supported her easily with one hand. He was speaking softly on the phone, careful not to disturb her.  
“Hey,” Veronica mouthed as Keith walked in.  
Lance nodded in greeting as he noticed him, gesturing with his head to the sofa beside him. Keith flopped down beside him, leaning on Lance’s shoulder.  
“Actually, he’s right here now, do you want to talk to him?” Lance said.  
Keith tilted his head to one side, frowning slightly.  
“It’s Allura,” Lance said, handing his mobile over.  
“Oh,” Keith said, “Hey Allura.”

“Hey Keith, how are you?” Allura asked.  
“I’m doing well, yeah,” Keith smiled lightly, “Feeling reasonably good.”  
“I’m glad, Stella doing alright?” she said.  
“Yeah, she’s good,” Keith said, “Very good at keeping us up.”  
Allura laughed, “Well, not too surprising. Anyway, I have something I need to discuss with you.”  
Keith shifted so he was sat more upright.  
“Right?”  
“We need Lance to come back. There’s been a huge break in the missing omegas case, we need him to help with the raid. That should hopefully help bust lots of the families, so you’ll be able to come home too,” Allura said.  
Keith tucked his leg up onto the sofa, nodding as she talked.  
“So, you want Lance to go home?” he said, “For a raid.”  
“Yes, exactly,” Allura confirmed, “Of course, if you wished to come home too, we would be happy to accommodate. I’m sure everyone would like to meet Stella.”  
“Right,” Keith nodded, biting his lip lightly.  
“Take some time to decide, but we would like to know by the end of this week,” Allura said.  
“Ok,” Keith nodded, “Right.”

They chatted for a bit longer, until they ran out of things to say. Keith hung up, just as Stella started to wake up and grumble.  
“Ooo, hey honey, have a nice nap?” Lance asked softly.  
She made a soft complaining noise as she shifted on Lance’s chest. Keith reached over and rubbed her back, she turned to look at him.  
“Hey,” he said softly, leaning over to kiss her cheek lightly.  
She wined, kicking out her legs slightly.  
“I’ll go get her bottle ready,” Keith said.  
“Nah, it’s ok,” Veronica said, clambering to her feet, “I’ll get it.”  
“Are you sure?” Keith frowned.  
“Yeah, sounds like you two have something to discuss,” Veronica said, waving him off.

****

Travelling back home was difficult with a young baby, and certainly not ideal. Keith really did want to get back though, he wanted to see everyone and have them all meet Stella. Allura had offered to let them stay at her place, insisted even as they’d offered to stay in a safe house. It would be her own fault if she was woken up by Stella crying.

Everyone was there, apparently they’d all wanted to welcome Lance, Keith and Stella home. Mostly Stella, they’d all been really excited to meet her.  
“Oh, she’s so cute,” Pidge hissed, looking into the carrier, “It’s surprising because she’s half Lance.”  
“Hey!” Lance protested, punching her in the arm.  
“Look at her,” Hunk cooed, “She’s just precious.”  
Stella was looking between everyone with wide eyes, too young to be bothered by all the strange people. Keith smiled, unclasping and lifting her out from the carrier. It was amazing how quickly he’d gotten used to her warm weight in his arms.  
“Who wants to hold her, Shiro?”  
Shiro honestly looked like he was going to burst into tears, even as he shakily nodded.

Reminding him to support her head, Keith carefully transferred Stella over into his arms. Shiro looked down at her and she curiously stared back, he then promptly burst into tears.  
“Who had Shiro cries when he first holds her?” Pidge said.  
“That would be me,” Allura smiled, “Pay up.”  
“Aww,” Lance grumbled, digging out his wallet, “Why couldn’t you cry when you saw her.”  
“It was a close one,” Shiro sniffed, causing everyone to chuckle.

Stella was passed around from person to person, she seemed happy with this arrangement, settling happily into everyone’s arms. Even Pidge had a go, although she passed her to Hunk very quickly. Lance had made a couple of trips to the car to grab the rest of their things in the meantime. Keith was exhausted by the time everyone had decided to leave, Stella seemed to be thinking the same thing as she was dozing in his arms. Lance looped an arm around his waist, resting his head against Keith’s shoulder.  
“Well everyone loves her,” he muttered.  
“Of course,” Keith smiled, “Our child is amazing.”  
Lance grinned, squeezing his hip.  
“Obviously.”

****

“You know this isn’t bring your child to work day right?” Pidge asked as Keith sat down, placing Stella in her carrier carefully on the floor.  
“I can’t leave her alone,” Keith rolled his eyes.  
“No, but you didn’t have to come either,” Pidge grumbled, “It’s distracting.”  
“I’m sure you can manage,” Keith said, “Besides she’s sleeping.”  
“Yeah,” Pidge shrugged, “She’s probably not going to be the problem, she can stay, you can go.”  
Keith snorted, “I thought you didn’t like children?”  
“I will make one exception,” Pidge said, “Just the one, until you and Lance inevitably have another.”  
“Woah, woah, woah,” Keith said, “Who said we were going to have more than one and what about if Matt has kids.”  
Pidge snorted, “ One, yeah, coz you’re going to stop at one I believe that. Two, like Matt could ever hold someone down long enough to have kids with them and even if he did, they would be actual demons. Now shut up so I can concentrate.”  
Keith rolled his eyes but remained silent, checking to see that Stella was still covered. They didn’t need her waking up.

It was nerve biting, being on the side-lines rather than in there, helping out during the raid. It was what it was though, he’d only be a hinderance in his current state. Still wasn’t fully recovered after Stella’s birth and definitely wasn’t as fit as he was before the pregnancy. He was better here. Didn’t stop him from biting his lip to the point of bleeding.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly, people and evidence was being found. Communication was flowing well, everyone seemed to be working together. Keith was careful to listen out for Lance’s voice, sounding above the others. Everything was going fine, until they heard the gunshot.

Everything seemed to slow down, the sound still ringing in Keith’s ears long after it finished. He barely heard Pidge calling out Lance’s name as the loud noise started Stella. She started wailing. Keith reached down and picked her up, cradling her tightly against his chest.  
“Damn it, he’s not responding,” Pidge hissed, “Lance! Lance! Damn it, Shiro you’re closest, get to where Lance was.”  
It was very hard calming Stella down when he himself was anything but, he had to get her to stop crying though. Bouncing her gently, Keith shushed softly, clutching her to his chest.  
“Shh, shh, it’s ok, I’m here, I’ve got you.”  
Her cries softened to unhappy gurgles as she grasped his t-shirt. Keith tried to ease his scent, make it slightly less distressed. It wasn’t working. Every terrible scenario was running through his head, all of them ending in Lance dying and him having to raise Stella alone.

 It seemed to take forever, but what could have only been a few minutes. The comms crackled back into life.  
“He’s fine,” Shiro said, “A bit beaten up and a little shaken but fine.”  
Pidge let out a long breath, “Alright, ok.”  
Keith let out a long relived breath, pressing a kiss to the top of Stella’s head.

****

It had all gone really well, they’d saved about twenty omegas, ready to be returned to their families. Here was a lot of information too, information that could easily bring down most of the major alpha families. Basically they’d got very lucky and everyone was in a good mood.

Lance’s arm was thrown over Shiro’s shoulder, he seemed to be supporting most of his own weight though.  
“Hey,” he said, smiling.  
Keith strode forwards, Stella bundled up in his arms. Lucky for Lance as he wanted to punch him. Lance flinched away, stumbling slightly as he moved away from Shiro.  
“Don’t ever do that again,” Keith snapped, “Don’t you dare do that to me again.”  
“I…” Lance started.  
“No, you can’t,” Keith swallowed, “You can’t leave us, I can’t do this on my own.”  
“Ok,” Lance said softly, holding one arm out, the other pressed against his side.  
Accepting the invitation, Keith walked forward and pressed his forehead into Lance’s shoulder. Stella was a little squished between the two of them, but she didn’t seem to mind. Lance wrapped his arm around him, resting his hand on Keith’s hip.   
“You need to go to the infirmary,” Keith muttered.  
“Probably,” Lance groaned, pulling away, before hissing in pain.  
“Yeah, you’re going to the infirmary.”

 

****

 

Lance was taking a long time putting Stella to bed, a really long time. Picking up the baby monitor, Keith clicked it on. The video came through almost immediately, Stella was in her crib, Lance lent against the side. He was reaching down into the crib, a finger clasped in Stella’s hand.  
“Your daddy’s a bit stilly isn’t he,” Lance said softly.  
Keith frowned slightly.  
“Thinking I could ever leave you two,” Lance continued, “Like I could ever leave the best thing that ever happened to me.”  
He lent down, pressing a kiss to Stella’s forehead. He carefully extracted his finger from her hand, brushing it over her cheek carefully.  
“Night night little one,” he said.

Placing the baby monitor on his bedside table, Keith stretched with a groan. Lance padded into the room, yawning widely. Red under one arm, Blue under the other.  
“Hey,” Lance said softly, making his way over to the bed.  
He dropped the two cats on the bed, they immediately padded over to Keith.  
“Hi,” Keith smiled in return, before looking down at the cats, “Did you miss us girls?”  
Lance grinned, crawling over the bed to lean over Keith. He rubbed their noses together, before pressing kisses all over his cheeks.  There had only been some bad bruising and a few cuts littering Lance’s body, he’d got very lucky. Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s back, pulling him down so he lay on top of Keith. Red and Blue were curled up at their side.  
“Sorry for worrying you,” he mumbled softly.  
Keith squeezed him closer, nuzzling under his ear. Before pressing a kiss there.  
“Don’t apologise,” he replied.  
Lance hummed, nuzzling into Keith’s neck.  
“Love you,” Lance muttered.  
Keith snorted, “Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, only one chapter left! Yay! It should be out sometime next week as we're currently in exam season so all I'm doing is revising and having exams...it sucks.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you have any questions feel free to ask and, let me know what you think!


	13. Husband

Parenthood was insane. Stella seemed to change every day and Keith loved every second of it. She smiled brightly at Lance one day, then Keith made her laugh another. She’d sit up and reach for them and next thing they knew she was crawling. That was entertaining, suddenly they were chasing her all around the apartment. Next thing they knew, the two of them were picking her up from day-care and she took her first steps towards them. Now they were chasing her around the apartment faster. Keith was determined for her to say daddy first, Lance wanted her to say papa. She ended up saying cat. In short it was complete madness and Keith wouldn’t change a second of it for the world.

****

“Daddy,” Stella mumbled sleepily.  
Keith turned, spotting her stood in the doorway. She was rubbing one of her eyes, stuffed toy lion clutched in one hand.  
“Morning sweetie, you want some breakfast?” Keith asked.  
Stella nodded, toddling over and grabbing his pyjama bottoms in her free hand. Keith ruffled her hair lightly before returning to prepare their breakfast.

He took a picture of Stella’s after-breakfast mess, sending it to Lance.  
**Lance:** Awh! She looks so cute, missing you two already  
**Keith:** It’s cute when you’re not the one cleaning up the mess  
**Lance:** It’s cute when I have to clean it up too  
 There was a knock on the door, Stella immediately started wriggling in her high chair.  
“Door!” she shouted.  
“I heard it,” Keith said.  
**Keith:** Sounds like they’re here, see you later  
**Lance:** I’ll be the one looking dashing in a tux ;)  
**Keith:** Everyone will be wearing tuxes, it’s a formal event  
**Lance:** You never let me have any fun :(  
 Keith rolled his eyes, giving Stella’s face a quick wipe before picking her up out of the highchair and putting her on the floor. She immediately made a run for the door, the lock was too high for her to reach though.

Gently pulling her away from the door, Keith unlocked it.  
“Morning!” Shiro said brightly from the other side.  
Matt and Krolia waved from just behind him.  
“Hey guys,” Keith said.  
“Hi,” Stella said, clinging onto his pyjama leg.  
Keith let them into the apartment, pulling Stella back with him.  
“You know you guys didn’t have to help,” he said.  
Krolia waved him off, “We want to, don’t worry it’s your special day.”  
She bent down to Stella’s level, “Shall we get you cleaned up and dressed?”  
Stella nodded, reaching out to her.  
“Come on then,” Krolia said, taking her hand and leading her back to her room.  
“Matt, clean the kitchen,” Shiro said, “Let’s get you ready.”  
“Why do I have to clean the kitchen?”  
“Because,” Shiro said, gripping Keith’s shoulder.

“Can you even tie a bowtie?” Keith smiled as Shiro fiddled with the bit of fabric around his neck.  
“Probably better than you can,” Shiro said.  
“Really? Because you’re about to cut off my air supply,” Keith said.  
Shiro groaned and dropped it.  
“You’re going to have to go without.”  
“I can’t go without,” Keith shook his head.  
“You guys can’t tie a bowtie?” Matt said, stepping into the room.  
“You can?” Shiro asked.  
“Duh,” Matt shrugged.  
He tied it in about ten seconds, it was neat and perfectly even.  
“Wow, I’m impressed,” Keith shrugged.  
“Why the tone of surprise?” Matt protested.  
The two of them looked at him.  
“You know what, don’t answer that.”

“Daddy! Daddy!” Stella shouted, running into the room.  
She was dressed in her little pale purple formal dress, she was frankly adorable.  
“Wow, don’t you look beautiful,” Keith smiled.  
She smiled and twirled, causing Keith to melt and Shiro to aww.  
“You look very pretty too daddy,” she said.  
“Oh, wow,” Matt said.  
“Hair please,” Stella held out two matching purple ribbons.  
“Do you have a brush?” Keith asked.  
Stella gasped, turning to run back into her room.  
“Grandma! I need a brush!”  
Keith smiled, hoping that she wouldn’t fall over. Both Matt and Shiro awed, watching her run out of the room.  
“You two are suckers,” Keith laughed.  
Stella came running out of her room a second later, Krolia following her with an amused smile.  
“She insisted I wasn’t allowed to do it,” she said.  
Stella shook her head, “No, she can’t.”  
“It’s ok, I’m always second choice to her papa,” Keith said, sitting her down on a chair.  
Lance was the real expert on getting her hair to behave, he could do a surprising amount with her short, thick locks. Keith was steadily getting better though and Lance wasn’t here. He managed to get her hair into two small bunches, tying them with the ribbons. She seemed happy with this, that’s what was important.

****

Stella was wriggling the whole time in the car, tugging on her dress. Keith carefully pulled the soft fabric out of her hands, smoothing it down. She blinked at him, big bright blue eyes. Keith smiled lightly at her, trying to ignore his own nerves. He didn’t know why he was nervous, they were mates and had a child together, this was something they probably should have done a long time ago.

Stella clung tightly to his hand as they waited for everyone to sit down, she looked around with wide eyes at everyone.  
“Are you ready?” Shiro asked.  
“Yeah,” Keith nodded, biting his lip, “As I’ll ever be.”  
“You know you are,” Shiro smiled, “I’m surprised you guys haven’t done this before.”  
“You’ve said that before, several times,” Keith said.

There was never a doubt in anyone’s mind that Lance and Keith would get married on a beach, it was pure good luck that they’d managed to pick a sunny day. An aisle was made from lining up benches on either side, a wooden archway at the end. All of them were decorated with flowers and lacy fabric. Keith had thought it was a bit much, when they set it up yesterday though, Keith had to admit it did look very nice. The decoration though was the last thing he was looking at.

Lance stood at the end of the aisle, looking incredible in his suit, smiling softly and brightly.  
“Papa!” Stella shouted, using Keith’s distraction to wrench her hand out of his.  
“Stella!” Keith shouted after her, but she ignored him.  
Lance, and everyone there, laughed as she sprinted up the aisle. Lance opened his arms for her to run into, picking her up to rest on his hip.  
“I’ve only been away one night,” Lance chuckled, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  
“What can I say, we missed you,” Keith smiled, “You look stunning by the way.”  
Lance’s cheek turned a pleasing shade of pink.  
“That’s my line.”  
Lance handed Stella over to Shiro, she was reluctant to let go of him but eventually relented. He turned back to Keith, sliding their hands together.  
“I love you,” he said.  
“I love you too.”

****

The proposal hadn’t been that romantic, their engagement had also been very long. If they thought before they had no time with their jobs, with their jobs and Stella they only had time to themselves when sleeping. Both of them were a complete mess and exhausted, although Lance always seemed to look amazing and Keith had no idea how the hell he did it.

Keith had fallen face-down in bed, he was never moving again. The covers had accepted him as one of their own, he couldn’t betray their trust. Lance padded in not long after, groaning before collapsing on the bed.  
“She’s asleep,” he said.  
Keith groaned, rolling onto his side. Lance opened his arms, Keith rolled into them, snuggling as close as he could. Lance was rubbing his hand up and down Keith’s back, tangling their legs together.   
“We should get married,” Lance said suddenly.  
It took a few seconds for Keith to register what he’d said, he lent away so he could look up at Lance.  
“What?”  
“Marry me?”  
“You’re asking me to marry you?”  
“Yeah?” Lance said, frowning down at him, “I want to marry you.”  
“We’re mates though?” Keith said, tilting his head to one side.  
Lance sighed, dropping his head so their foreheads rested together.  
“Think about it Keith,” Lance said, before wrapping Keith back up in his arms.

It took an embarrassing long time for Keith to realise the significance of Lance asking to marry him. He blames his exhaustion and his upbringing, how the bonding bite is pushed to be the most important thing. He pushed away from Lance suddenly, sitting bolt upright.  
“You can only marry once!” he half-shouted.  
Lance blinked sleepily, looking up and yawing.  
“Exactly,” he mumbled, “Not that I’d mate any other omegas.”  
Keith rested his hands on Lance’s shoulders, leaning down to press their lips together. Lance hummed, knotting his hand in Keith’s hair.  
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” Keith smiled against his lips.  
“Yay,” Lance grinned, wrapping Keith in his arms again.  
He rolled them over, pressing kisses all over his face and neck. Keith laughed, wriggling slightly as it tickled.  
“Oh,” Lance said, stopping and reaching over to the bedside table, “Here.”  
A small black box was rested in his hand, Keith opened it to see the ring nestled inside.   
“I’ve had it for a while, it just never seemed to be the right time,” Lance said.  
“Lance,” Keith said softly, “I love it.”  
Lance smiled, “I love you.”  
Keith flushed and looked away, holding his hand out for Lance to slip the ring on. It fitted perfectly, Lance pressing a kiss to it in situ.   
“I love you too,” Keith said softly, pulling him into a kiss.

****

Lance’s arms were warm around him as they swayed on the dance floor, Keith resting his head on Lance’s shoulder. Both of them had managed not to cry during the ceremony, Keith had felt his eyes burn the whole time though. Focusing on Shiro and Hunk’s loud sobbing had stopped the tears from falling though. Too soon their first dance was over and they were swamped by people offering their congratulations. Lance took Stella onto the dance floor, Keith could hear her giggling the whole time.

Lance seemed to have vanished, Keith had no idea where he was. No one else seemed to either. Hunk and Pidge were occupied with Stella, no matter how much she protested, Pidge had started to become attached. Shiro, Allura and Matt were chatting off to the side, none of them had any idea where Lance was. Not even Lance’s mama knew where he was. Marco said he’d seen him go into the bathroom, so Keith headed that way to try and find him.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, crossing his arms.  
Lance was sat up on the sinks, a plate in one hand. Keith’s stomach rumbled as he spotted the food.  
“Everyone is congratulating and wanting to talk to me, I’m hungry and they wouldn’t let me eat,” Lance wined.  
“Budge up,” Keith said, hopping onto the counter beside him, “Gimme.”  
Lance laughed, offering him the plate. God, Keith was so hungry.  
“Not how I pictured my reception,” Lance laughed.  
Keith lent up against him, stuffing his face with the food Lance had smuggled into the bathroom.  
“Wouldn’t change it,” Lance said, wrapping his arm around Keith.  
“Never pictured my reception, never imagined getting married,” Keith shrugged, “Never imagined having a mate, never imagined having kids, a lot of things have happened that I wasn’t expecting.”  
Lance hummed, squeezing his shoulder.  
“Hey, don’t eat it all,” Lance complained, removing his arm from around Keith, “I’m the one who smuggled it in here.”  
“What’s mine is yours looser,” Keith said.  
“Ass.”

Stella was basically asleep, slumped against Keith’s chest, clinging onto his shirt. Lance, Shiro, Allura, Matt, Pidge and Hunk were all sat around the table, talking. The music was a little loud, but they were all close enough to be able to hear. The party was starting to wind down a little, it was very late and most people with children had already gone home. Rosa walked over smiling brightly.  
“We’re thinking of heading off if you want me to take Stella?” she said.  
Keith nodded, giving Stella a quick squeeze. She didn’t respond, completely asleep despite the music. Lance pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before Keith handed her to Rosa.  
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Keith asked.  
Rosa laughed, “It’s not the first grandchild I’ve babysat. It’s your wedding day, you two enjoy yourselves.”  
“See you in the morning,” Lance nodded and smiled.  
She walked off with Stella in her arms, Keith let out a long breath.  
“You wanna dance?” Lance asked, clambering to his feet.  
“Yeah, yeah I do,” Keith smiled, accepting the hand Lance held out to him.

****

The two of them sprinted down the hotel corridor, giggling madly. Keith had a warm feeling in his chest, that may have been something to do with the alcohol running through his system. Lance fumbled with the hotel keys, Keith pressed kisses all over his neck, sliding his hands under his shirt.  
“Keith,” Lance wined, “You’re making this difficult.”  
Keith hummed, sucking lightly on Lance’s scent gland. The alpha moaned softly before finally getting the door open, both of them stumbling through. Keith kicked the door closed behind him, spinning Lance around and slamming their lips together. Lance’s hand immediately went to his ass, squeezing appreciatively. Keith moaned, tilting his head back so Lance had access to his neck. The alpha took full advantage, biting and sucking at the skin.

Keith felt like a damn horny teenager again. Since Stella had been born they hadn’t had much chance to get intimate, not enough time and too exhausted. Keith backed Lance up to the bed, giving him a rough shove causing him to fall back.  
“Oh my god,” Lance said.  
Keith hummed, untying his bowtie.  
“No, Keith, this bed is super comfortable,” Lance groaned.  
“Lance,” Keith said, deadpan, “Really?”  
“So, comfortable, man my feet were hurting,” Lance said.  
“I really hate you sometimes,” Keith sighed, “Seriously.”  
Lance pouted, “You’ll understand when you get on the bed.”  
Keith rolled his eyes, dropping back onto the bed beside Lance.  
“Holy shit.”   
“I know right,” Lance said.  
“Ok, we’re laying here for a while then we’re having sex,” Keith said.  
“Sounds good,” Lance replied.

“If I lay here any longer, I will fall asleep,” Keith groaned, “I’m not going through this night without sex!”  
“Yeah, ok,” Lance said, “As long as I don’t have to move.”  
“And they say romance is dead,” Keith said dryly.  
“Fine,” Lance said, pulling his shoes off, “There.”  
Keith snorted, “You know what, fine.”  
He knelt up on the bed, tugging off his bowtie and tossing it across the room. Sliding off his jacket, Keith tossed that too.  
“You’re going to wrinkle your suit,” Lance said.  
“Yeah, I don’t care,” Keith said, sliding to his feet.  
Lance lent up on his elbows, watching Keith through half-lidded eyes. Keith didn’t bother show boating, throwing off his clothes as quickly as he could. Lance whistled as they came off, grinning.  
“Strip,” Keith growled, climbing back onto the bed.  
Lance’s eyes widened, a smile twitching up the corner of his mouth. He untied his bowtie, sliding everything else off as he moved to prop himself up against the headboard.   
“Come on then, I’m ready for you,” Lance purred.  
Keith smiled, sliding off the bed, adding an intentional wriggle to his step. Lance whistled. Keith reached his bag, bending over and sticking his ass out.  
“You’re killing me,” Lance groaned.  
Keith laughed lightly, standing up with a bottle of lube in his hand. He strutted back to the bed, pulling his hair out of the ponytail.  
“You sure you’re ready for me?” Keith grinned, running his fingers through his hair.  
“Gimme your best shot,” Lance growled.

Keith bounced up and down on Lance’s cock, moaning unabashedly. Lance was gasping beneath him, hands rested on Keith’s hips. Splaying his hands over Lance’s pectorals for balance, rolling his hips, searching for his prostate. Pleasure shot up his spine, Keith arched his back, tossing his head back.  
“Fuck, Keith,” Lance hissed, shifting slightly to start to thrust up.  
Keith stopped moving, leaning down.  
“No, you don’t move,” Keith said, “Just lay back and let me look after you.”  
He began rolling his hips again, slow and rhythmic. Pleasure was shooting up his spine, but Keith was more focused on Lance’s face. They’d been together years, but Lance’s face, slack with pleasure, was still one of his favourite sights.   
“Feels good?” Keith smirked.  
“You know it,” Lance hummed, slipping his hand back to squeeze the meat of his ass.  
Keith moaned, rising up to drop back down again. Lance groaned lowly, his hips twitching. He stayed still though and Keith clenched down hard, speeding up his bouncing. Lance’s hands were gripping his hips, Keith hoped they’d bruise. Maybe he’d ask later if Lance would suck hickeys onto the inside of his thighs.

Keith’s legs were starting to ache, he was close though.  
“Ok, help me out then,” Keith said, sinking down so Lance was completely inside him.  
Lance shifted, planting his feet on the bed. Keith took a deep breath and braced himself, shouting out as Lance pounded into him. He shifted around to find Keith’s prostate, getting it almost right away. Keith was already so wound up, it only took a few thrusts before he was cumming untouched. Lance sat up, curling his arms around Keith before laying him on the bed. He was still rock hard and immediately started thrusting into Keith’s limp body. Keith moaned weakly with overstimulation, squeezing tightly around Lance to try and get him to cum. It only took a few more thrusts for Lance to cum, collapsing heavily on top of Keith.

****

Keith melted into the comfortable bed, clean, naked and incredibly relaxed. Lance was stretched out on his front beside him, blinking sleepily at him. Keith smiled, rolling so he was resting on Lance’s back.  
“Umf, heavy,” Lance groaned.  
Keith hummed happily, leaning down to nuzzle behind Lance’s ear.  
“Comfortable,” Keith mumbled.  
“For one of us,” Lance sighed.  
Keith nuzzled between his shoulder blades, relaxing against Lance’s back. There was niggling in the back of his mind, something he’d been thinking about for a while. Something he wanted but was worried about asking Lance about it. Letting out a long breath, Keith sat up straddling Lance’s ass.  
“Hey, I want to talk to you about something,” Keith said.  
Lance pushed himself up a little, but he couldn’t get very far with Keith straddling him.  
“Well can you let me up?”  
“I suppose,” Keith shrugged, dropping off to one side to prop himself up against the pillows.

Lance rolled over, sitting up.  
“What’s wrong?”  
Keith sighed, shaking his head at Lance’s worried look.  
“Nothing’s wrong,” Keith said softly, looking down at his hands, “I was just wondering, if maybe, you wanted to see if we could give Stella a sibling.”  
Lance blinked, before tilting his head to one side.  
“Are you saying you want more children?” he said.  
“I…yeah,” Keith said, “I mean, if you want to.”  
“If I want, Keith,” Lance said, grabbing his arms, “I want a small army of children.”  
Keith laughed, “We’re not having a small army Lance.”  
“Why not? Can’t you just imagine it? A swarm of children!” Lance said, “I mean, they don’t even all have to be biological, we could adopt a few and be like, here are all our children, fear us.”  
“What the hell Lance,” Keith laughed, shaking his head, “What are you even doing with all these children?”  
“Um, loving and raising them until they’re old enough to march on the government and take over,” Lance shrugged, “What else are you supposed to do with children?”  
Keith shook his head, shoulders shaking with laughter.  
“I love you, you weirdo.”  
Lance lent over, attaching himself to Keith’s side.  
“I love you too,” he smiled.  
“So, about trying for a baby?”  
Lance pulled him in for a kiss.  
“Yeah,” he said softly, “Let’s try for another kid. Stella will be the most adorable big sister.”  
Keith smiled, leaning their foreheads together.  
“Yeah she will be.”

Keith didn’t know what the future would hold, if they would have anymore children. Although if previous experience was to be believed, they were very fertile. If Lance would have his small army, maybe if they did adopt some too. If they would move to the suburbs one day, with a white picket fence in the good school districts. If their children would not have to worry about what their secondary sex was, be able to live their lives whatever they turned out to be. If they’d grow old together, spend their time retired peacefully together, old and wrinkled with silver hair. Keith smiled, curling up closer to Lance’s chest. No, no one could know what the future would hold, but with Lance by his side, Keith was excited to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh boy...that ending was a bit cheesy...but it's late and I don't really care.
> 
> So anyway, this is it! The end! I am done! Never doing a multi chaptered fic again (Let's see how long it takes me to break that promise to myself). Anyway, I may or may not do some one shots from this AU, I'm still deciding. I have like, 5 other fic ideas so I'm probably going to work on them first.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, I mean, I complain a lot but I did like writing it. Anyway, I must go back to battling exams...only two left now (and they're only short ones) so I can't really complain.
> 
> Thanks for reading and for those who've been here since the start, thanks for sticking around until the end.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out so simple in my head, then grew and grew until this monster appeared...so...its a thing now.
> 
> There are five planned sections, four with three parts each and one with just the one. So the question is, an update one chapter at a time, or one section (three chapters) at a time. Obviously the three chapters will take longer, but has a bit more of a complete arc.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!


End file.
